Do you break your own promises?

I just listened to “Girl, Wash Your Face” by Rachel Hollis for the second time in the past two weeks.  I’m not lying when I say it’s the absolute best book I’ve read in years.  Because I drive for work all day, I’m always listening to either a podcast or a book on audio.  I have a lot of good ones under my belt, but “Girl, Wash Your Face” inspires me like no other.  Early on in the book she addresses the fact that it’s so easy to break promises to ourselves.  We swear we’re going on a diet, and it doesn’t last more than a week.  We vow to get into bed early, and then we end up awake at 1 am scrolling Instagram.  Yet, these same women somehow manage to get their kids to school on time, show up early to work, and get all the house chores done before bed.  Why?  Why do we come through for others, but not ourselves??

When I self-reflect on this idea, I suppose I’m not terrible.  I am so rigid in my healthy eating and workout habits.  I force myself to bed if I have to because I know that I need a solid 7 hours of sleep.  I have a STRICT morning and nighttime routine that I refuse to stray from no matter where I’m at.  So, with some of these surface level promises I make to myself, I’m golden.  But when I start to dig a little deeper, I’m ashamed at the number of promises I’ve broken to myself.  It honestly pisses me off a little bit.  Like, I’m generally always late to any kind of event or gathering, but at least I show up!  I don’t even bother to sneak in the back door an hour late when it comes to agreements I’ve made for ME.  WHY?!

For instance, this blog.  Did you know I bought a domain for my blog 4 years ago?  I created a name, came up with topic ideas, and wrote pages and pages of content.  Do you want to know what came from that?  Absolutely nothing.  I never posted any of it.  I never went public with it at all.  It sat there.  Fast forward to this year, and I FINALLY followed through with my goal to start a blog.  I literally cried the first day I went live.  It was the best feeling.  I swore I would make a post once a week!  And, here we are.  I have a busy, sometimes stressful, job.  On top of that, our kitchen has been getting remodeled for the past 2 months.  I like to have a clean house and laundry.  I workout almost every day.   I also really like sleep (as I already mentioned above).  It’s REALLY hard to make time in the midst of all this to take super trendy and fashion-forward pictures for my blog weekly.

And so here we are.  I guess I’m not the best fashion blogger in the world.  Anyone want to follow me around and snap pics of my outfits while I’m at work?  Working out?  Cooking dinner?  All of this just has just frustrated me.  I don’t want to be boxed in and only allowed to blog about my adorable outfit, low carb dinner, or a booty building workout.  Blogging isn’t something I started to stress about, and then ultimately not do because I don’t have perfect photos to go along with my content.  I started it as a creative outlet.  I started it because I love writing.  I started it because it brings me joy, and I love connecting with others in this format.

I’m turning 30 (I don’t think I’ve said this out loud yet) in a little over 6 months, and I’m making some promises to myself right here.  On this public platform.  For God only knows who and their mother-in-law to read:

1.  Blog when I feel like blogging.  When I have something to share, I’ll share it even if I don’t have a beautiful image to go along with it.
2. Get certified to teach workout classes.  Another one of those things I set out to do over 4 years ago, and still haven’t.  WHY?!  Good grief.
3. Stick to my healthy eating habits on the weekend.  Even though Chattanooga has so much good food, and I just want to eat it all.
4. Sing more.  Another one of those creative outlets for me.  Josh and I used to play and sing ALL the time, but we don’t as often anymore.  (again, refer to the above kitchen remodel which has truly been a walk in the freaking park)

Welp, there it is.  Sorry there are no crop tops, skincare products, or recipes today.  Just me being pretty raw.  Thanks for reading and still loving me anyway.  And if you are sitting there on your behind currently breaking a promise to yourself, I’m challenging you to STOP!  Your words mean nothing without action.  Even the words you say to yourself.  Get up, and make it happen.  Whatever it is.  Life is too short to piddle around and break your own promises!!  Join me.

xoxo,

Dee