The Restrictions of the Mind

I have been taking my mothers group for a session on Thursday mornings for the past couple of weeks; i have been blessed with an enthusiastic, fit, energetic bunch of mothers that actually show up and give it a go! However when i explained that i couldn't do it this week, because i was sailing in the Windsurfing nationals, i was met with an extraordinary range of different emotions and reactions! Not just from some of the other mums, but my friends and clients too, from deathly silence (i can only imagine they were thinking "what the...?) to incredulous enthusiasm like i was climbing Mount Everest with Evie on my back.

Is going Windsurfing with a 5mth old really that extraordinary?

Turns out, it is!

The only thing i can't figure out, is why!

Before having Evie, the general consensus was that my life would be turned upside down and i wouldn't be able to do anything i wanted to do ever again. What i decided was that it was not going to be that way, it is simply a matter of logistics: where have i got to be when, and who's looking after Evie?

The motto i try to live by is from Mark Twain, with a lovely sailing analogy that i identify with: Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

This is not to say i lump my child with my mum everyday. I simply spend time figuring what i can do, when, and how. Often i will turn up with my daughter and dog in tow! We have been to a Hen's weekend, two weddings, leg waxes, work, and more in these past 4.5mths, and i do not intend to stop!

To get myself to the Nationals, i have recruited my husband as primary support. After babysitting was arranged, my next project will be to find a power point and fridge at the venue, so i can express between races. Undignified? Sure. But possible!

Motherhood can be tough, but it doesn't have to define who you are for life. There are lots of other things to do and live for. Any restrictions placed on us by our kids, are actually placed on ourselves by us - by believing certain things are not possible. Give possible a crack, you have nothing to lose!