(Book Study: Ten
Habits of Happy Mothers by Meg Meeker – Habit #4)
In chapter 4, Meg writes about competition and jealousy with the
boldness that I admired in chapters 1 and 2 but found lacking in chapter
3. Competition and jealousy are difficult
topics because they are so personal and reveal much about ourselves. Most often, when we make comparisons between
ourselves and other mothers, we put pressure on ourselves to change. But sometimes, we put that pressure on the
other mother. The drive for perfection can come from ourselves or from other people. It has been most
difficult for me to realize that many times I have succumbed to the often
subtle pressure to be what someone else wants. Regardless of the source, one solution is to recognize the pressure and to force it
out of our lives. This is easiest to do
when we focus on our own gifts and skills.
Our culture offers endless opportunities for fulfillment, but there is
no way anyone of us can do it all. We
are finite beings so we have to make choices.
If we focus on one area of our lives, another area is going to suffer. And that is OK. A mother’s sanity and happiness depends on
her ability to know when to say “No” to the pressure to do more and to be more.
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