Buckle up my friends because tonight we are taking a drive down Keeping It Real Lane. No pretty pictures. No poignant quotes. In fact no frilly words at all. If you’re looking for the highlight real today please feel to move on. This post is simply about how this 41 year old woman had a childlike meltdown today. Yep…a straight up, sit at my desk and cry like a baby meltdown.

A few weeks ago I told you that my word for 2018 was “choice.” Well tonight I am choosing to share my less than stellar day with you all. Now I have already admitted I was way less than my best today so why in the world would I ever want to share more? First of all because quite honestly, writing about is cathartic. Even if there are no hits, no likes, and the comment crickets chirp, I will still feel better.  Second of all because its real and I truly believe there is someone out there tonight who simply needs to know they are not alone…and…ummm…they are not crazy. And finally, because a dear friend of mine told me to find something to laugh about tonight so I’m starting by laughing at myself…try it sometime its really good for the soul and a great stress reliever.

Why I had a meltdown isn’t really relevant. Because lets be honest we are chronic comparison junkies. If  I told you why I had a meltdown you would be tempted to judge me or compare your own situation to mine. The dialogue in your head might go one of two ways…”Wow, shes a hot mess and needs to get it together. I can’t believe she lost it over that.” or it might sound more like this…”Wow, my situation isn’t anywhere near as hard as hers. Why am I being such a big baby?”

The reality is we all have things that stress us out and stress unchecked will ALWAYS lead to the inevitable meltdown. Even the people you think have it all together have meltdowns…some of us are just a little more public about it than others. So don’t beat yourself up over it. Put your big girl panties on…apologize to the people who were nearby when “hurricane you” made landfall and move past it. It’s over and it is all going to be ok…the sky didn’t fall and the world did not come to an end.

However, here is a little lesson I learned today. The moment I felt the stress begin to overwhelm me…cause lets be honest, we all know the warning signs, stress doesn’t just come out of nowhere…I should have walked away. I should have taken a deep breath. And I should have spent a few minutes in prayer. My goodness…I even had a friend at the beginning of the week tell me to make sure I had my quiet time because it was going to be a difficult week. Now I could live in regretland…the place of should’ve, could’ve, would’ve or I can choose to learn the lesson and do better next time.

So for all my sisters out there who had a rough day, week, or year (which is really rough since we are only 17 days in) be encouraged. Tomorrow is a brand new day. A new day to choose to get out of your own head and not allow the stress of your circumstances rule how you act and react. A new day to choose to walk away when the stress levels rise and inhale the presence and peace of God so that you can exhale the chaos going on in your own mind. Give it a try, I know I am going to. And I have sinking suspicion we won’t be sorry.