The Busy Persons Guide to Having it ALL….

Oprah: the definition of "having it all" (w/o kids)

I am overwhelmed.

You?

Mom, Wife, Start-up maven, Blogger, Foodie-on-Parole, Fashionista-ish, Executive Assistant & Social Dir. for Chatty Twins, a Charismatic Two year Old, and an Adopted Mommy to an Aggressively Affectionate Golden Retriever.

Me? Yes, I am.

The problem is I WANT it all: the doting mom, Wonderful Wife, Organic & locally-sourced Recreational Chef, Execu-babe, Athlete, Style and Design Aficionado, to name a choice few; and I WANT to do it all RIGHT. Not half-assed, not “just in time” but thoughtful, consistent and on point every time.

Well I can. Have it all. And I’m not insane.

Here’s the secret: You can have it all, just not all at the SAME TIME.

Seriously. And seriously lame. But the truth hurts.

One of my chicas, Cat, came up with the theory — you can have it all, just at different times in your life. She’s doctor that probably would be practicing emergency room medicine (she loves the high) but works part-time at a bucolic (that be rural folks) hospital in CT so she can be there for her children and husband. She eeks out time for the familuy, lives near some of the best ice cream in the world (cows out back,) but isn’t knee deep in the gun-shot wounds, punctured lungs and flatlines that make her swoon for all the right reasons. Nor is she taking the gourmet cooking classes or traveling to Skye with her fabulous travel compadre BETSY.

Now if you were a person of simple tastes, congrats you probably do have it all.

So, depending upon what you want out of life- you have to pick and choose your roles and hobbies. For example : young children and major careers, designer clothes, intricate Martha Stewart style dinner parties, and white carpeting just, I repeat, just do not mix. In fact it’s toxic. I can guaranteed from personal experience the express train to an overwhelmed freak-out.

So once I thought about scheduling “me” into slots into my life , rather than slots of time during the week I relaxed. So I deal. I’m a foodie-0n-parole. So my house will be fabulously decorated after my kids learn to use a napkin & stop ricocheting off the furniture. Scuba will be after the last child learns to swim and the nanny can travel. My career will be close to home and with flexible hours and limited travel so I can be there for most of my babies boo-boos, beach outings, girl scouts meetings, story hours, and movie nights.

As the babes get older (and as I do) I’ll add more, do more. Do less of others.

Look I am the first to admit I want it all, now. Patience is not an inherent virtue of mine. Though I am trying to learn. But with patience I can have the time to give all of me, all the facets of me, my due. I have to think of the present, what I can accomplish now. And that means prioritizing.

As I said the truth hurts, Priorities suck.

But they are just that… priorities.

And because it struck me as particularly perfect, a little Queen & Bowie: