No Need to Wash Your Face, Girl

The increase in the self-help market aimed towards women is skyrocketing. It seems like every other post on Facebook is about how to be a “Boss Babe” or a “Mom Boss”.

I am hearing constantly that I can have it all if I just “hustle”. What I’m really hearing is that the current version of me is not good enough. The current me can do more, be more and have more than I do right now and because I can, I SHOULD. And if I don’t that means I’m giving up on my dreams and giving up on myself, which in turn means I’m letting my family down. Or so they say.

I fully understand that I have the capacity and even the opportunity to achieve a “better” life if I just hustle faster towards my entrepreneurial dreams. I used to try and visualize that “better” life all the time—bigger house with room for more kids, my husband retiring early to spend all his time with us, taking my whole family on vacations of a lifetime, buying a house for a needy family at our church, etc. I will admit there were many holy and secular things in this dream life. Weekly cleaning service? Yes! Build a new adoration chapel? Yes! I had huge dreams; dreams for how I was going to change my life, my community and the world with my huge income.

But slowly, over time, God put a new dream in my heart. He showed me that my life, just exactly the way it is right now, is enough.

He has shown me that my impact on the world will be meaningful (maybe even huge!) but it will be quiet.

He has shown me that sometimes all you need to impact your community is to invite a lonely neighbor over for coffee.

Instead of trying to change the world with a financial impact, I choose to remain obedient to my reality. This is where He has placed me and there is plenty of work for me to do right here, right now (can you hear that baby crying in the background?!).

Saint Mother Teresa said it best—“Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the one nearest to you.”