Why It’s OK to Not be OK: Acknowledging Life, Doing Your Best and Learning to Rest

Time for a little bit of real talk, k? I had a blog post ready to go about how to build a beauty brand but felt exhausted just thinking about it. My eyes hurt,I’m tired and am over talking about business. LOL So, I thought now would be the perfect time to drop a post about why it’s OK to not be OK because I KNOW you are all with me. So can we put the biz book down and maybe make some tea and grab a blanket because that’s personally what I need right now which means you of course need the same since we’re always on the same wavelength! 

While it’s been fairly easy for me to dive headfirst into my business during this crazy time, it’s also been an eye-opening experience to watch the world crumble and realize that maybe it’s OK if I crumble too. I'm sitting here constantly instagramming, writing about starting a blog, working on a newsletter, sharing with you how re-branding yourself and fine-tuning your website will grow your biz, when in actuality, all I want to preach about for a moment is how you should put all that shit down for a minute and give yourself a break. 

I'm going to be very candid right now and say that things are really terrible at the moment. People have lost their jobs, artists can’t create, people are dying, riots are flooding the streets and we aren’t free to roam and live. And as human beings, we need to create, to work, to travel, to hold loved ones to stay sane. We are truly trapped inside our minds right now with nowhere else to go, literally.

For so many of us, work had become an outlet - a chance to escape life, hardships, to connect with our clients and so it's extremely disheartening that we now don’t have the ability to do any of that. I don’t think any of realized how much we took human connection and running errands for granted. 

I want to share with you that I one hundred percent acknowledge that how I react to things may be different than others so I say to do as I say and not as I do. I feel like I’ve been in survival mode my whole life and there has never been a shutdown mode for me. Anytime something has gone “off track” for me I’ve always quickly switched gears and kept it moving. When I got a disc replacement in March in my spine and then Coronavirus shut the world down the day after I had surgery, did I rest? Not really. I immediately thought of how I was going to pivot and provide more for you so that you would feel safe. 

Because I've built such an amazing community of women to rally around, I do feel a sense of responsibility - an obligation - to hold everyone up and be your cheerleader right now. So I need you to know something very important because it’s easy to compare and feel like what you’re doing isn’t enough. When I am pumping out new content, writing blog posts, working on my website and creating new products it’s because I need and want to keep you inspired. I don’t expect you to be me. And while I hope it’s motivating, I hope more than anything that it just makes you smile and gives you something to follow along to. Consider it inside scoop that you’ll always have available to you.  I never want you to feel like what you’re doing isn’t enough, especially RIGHT NOW.

I don’t want you to feel pressure to take over the world or to create a product out of thin air - what I want you to do is get your head right (something I'm realizing I also need to do for myself). I want you to see that this is a (hopefully) temporary situation and although I hope it will never happen again, some of the gifts we've been given in the last 4 months are because we got shut down. (Time) 

So of course I want you to feel motivated and inspired and to always better your business, but what I really want to say is that bettering YOU and taking care of your family always has to be number one. If you’re lucky to be in love, to have children, to have a family that cares about you, do whatever you can to focus on that and trickle in as much work as you can while staying sane. And if you’re single and independent, take care of yourself EVEN MORE. Lean on people you love and don’t be afraid to turn to family and friends for support. Work is important but it’s not life. Please don’t force yourself to do things because the world around you is painting a different picture than yours. 

I‘m about to get a puppy in a few weeks and it’s the first thing I’ve really done in years for myself that hasn’t been somehow connected to WORK. That doesn’t mean you should get one too unless you want one but find something besides work that makes you smile ...like I know my puppy will. 

This is just a little note to tell you that I know you are doing your best, your clients (should) know you're doing your best (if they don’t cut 'em loose!) and you know you're doing your best. I believe we can all deep down hold ourselves accountable while cutting ourselves slack, too.

I’ve had a headache for two straight weeks and I’ve been sleeping 12 hours a night and I thought there was something seriously wrong with me. Then I came to terms with the fact that maybe life has just hit me a little extra hard right now and that it's not an illness, but a sign that I need to majorly chill out, LOL. Instead of dwelling on what it could be or how to fix it, I’m trying to accept that my brain is tired and my body is confused... and that I’m human and guess what?! So are you. 

I hope this blog gives you a little comfort in knowing that we’re all in this together and that none of us have it figured out. Give your mind and body the time they deserve and simply go from there. Use my blogs and social media as inspiration, take notes and get to work when you feel good and ready! 

If this post is helpful for you, don't miss this podcast episode on taking care of yourself, doing your best for YOU and taking the time to enjoy the rest.