I recently had my first baby and it has been the most amazing and most exhausting experience of my life! There is a steep learning curve when having a baby and I have learned lessons on lessons on lessons. One important lesson came to me at about two in the morning as I was feeding my son.
I was not feeling like the best mom. My baby’s nursery was not all decked out in Hobby Lobby décor. Not all the baby gear matched to the nines. And I felt like I was constantly covered in spit up (Please tell me I’m not the only one). I would look on social media and instantly feel like I could never measure up to all the moms I was seeing. Their nurseries looked like they belonged in a magazine. None of their baby gear looked to be a hand me down. And I never saw the tiniest bit of spit up on their clothes. How could I compete?
As I nursed my son during the night I would listen to all sorts of podcasts and watch shows to make waking up in the middle night a little more fun. (I may or may not have watched all of the seasons of Gilmore Girls… twice). When I was feeling down in the dumps about my level of mothering one night a podcast hit me deep. I wish I could remember what podcast I was listening to, but what can I say? It was two in the morning! I do remember the lesson I learned: stay in your lane.
There were a few women talking about life and how “comparison is the thief of joy” and one of the women introduced the idea of staying in your lane. You are the only one in the lane. You do not need to speed up or slow down based on traffic, because it is just you between those yellow lines. It all hit me. It doesn’t matter that the social media influencer’s house is HGTV worthy and mine doesn’t even compare, because I don’t need to compare! We are in completely different lanes.
I love the idea that if I want to I can roll down my window and cheer on the cars beside me, but once I roll up that tinted window it is just me. And I have to say, I am liking where my lane is taking me.