I am beyond ridiculously excited to be part of The Messy Beautiful Warriors Project with Glennon and Momastery. Giddy. And terrified. And freaking out a little bit.
I’m not a writer, but I am a Monkee, so I will do my best to share with you my messy beautiful.
{This essay and I are part of the Messy, Beautiful Warrior Project — To learn more and join us, CLICK HERE! And to learn about the New York Times Bestselling Memoir Carry On Warrior: The Power of Embracing Your Messy, Beautiful Life, just released in paperback, CLICK HERE!}
I don’t run. And by that I mean I hate to run, despise running, would rather do bedtime with 4 littles (gasp!). My husband even bought me this bumper sticker so I could show my passion with pride.
I guess it’s ironic then, that I constantly relate life to running a race. I can’t seem to fight the feeling that I am in the middle of a very long marathon and that I am losing. I’m pretty sure I am perpetually in last place.
I am a wife, a mom of 4, a blogger, and a small business owner. I run (metaphorically, of course), my legs hurt, I’m tired and when I look ahead the horizon is empty. In my mind you are all so far ahead that I can’t even see you. You are hosting pin-worthy parties while wearing heals and earrings, and even helping your kids get their 2nd grade animal reports turned in on time.
I’m back here in the hoodie and flats. Running. Always frazzled and late, being reminded of the stupid animal report the night before. I’m pretty sure I owned earrings and heals at one point, but I can’t remember. They probably fell off during all the freaking running.
Messy is definitely a word to describe my life right now, if only because of the never ending poopy diapers and little bums I wipe every day. Messy, hard, and exhausting. But here’s the thing, the race actually gets really beautiful when I fall. And boy do I fall. Not a little trip where you jump up and make sure no one saw. I’m talking arms and legs flailing, head over heals, positive everyone is pointing and laughing kind of falls.
And when I’m down the most beautiful thing happens. Hands reach out and I finally look around. Not just ahead, but right and left and I realize I’m not alone. I’m not on my own and far behind, I’m surrounded by other women and mamas in the middle of the mess. I’m surrounded by family and friends, love and kindness. And beauty.
Hands willing to share bandaids, wipe tears and remind me that we are in this together. To remind me that life is hard, but good. To remind me to look around for other face-planted warriors who need my hands.
Together we sit and rest for a moment. We share the beauty of “me too” and of “we can do hard things.” And eventually we help each other up, dust each other off and help each other continue on the journey. In my falls I often recognize things I need to let go of, blessings I hadn’t realized, and feel the love that is all around me.
I wish I could remember these beautiful truths for more than a few minutes at a time. I wish I didn’t start looking forward and feeling behind again so quickly.
I guess it’s a good thing I fall so often.
Please don’t point and laugh. 🙂
Love,
Tiffany – Messy Beautiful Warrior
If you haven’t read Glennon’s book Carry On Warrior: The Power of Embracing Your Messy, Beautiful Life yet, I hope you will. It is uplifting, funny, and one of my favorite books of all time.
I am excited today to give you the chance to win a copy of this incredible book! I’m buying 3 of you a copy of the newly released paperback!
Looks Great!!! New things always take a little time to get use to.!!!
Thanks Charie! Yes, they do! Thanks for the support! 🙂
Tiff, I love it. It looks so clean and so you. I like the participant login section and honestly, it just looks so happy to me. Congrats! So exciting!
Nadia, you are the greatest! Thank you so much for your sweet comments, they mean the world to me!
I love the new look and the new website! You are truly amazing and a wonderful example of being healthy! It is a continual process and my husband and I love doing the challenge. Thanks for all you do!!
Shara
Thank you so much Shara! You are doing great and I’m so glad you are both loving the challenge!
Your website looks fantastic! Congrats! I also LOVE this post. Sounds like we could be running partners. 🙂
Haha! Thanks Michelle!
Love it! I feel like this goes along perfectly with the latest LDS women’s conference. We really do need each other!
That is so true! Thanks Julie!
Of course, you’re a writer. You write; therefore, you are a writer. You’re a blogger; therefore, you wish to share your words with the world, along with your messy. Excellent metaphor about life and how it’s a marathon. I’ll be participating in the Messy, Beautiful campaign this week, too. Just keep running!
Play off the Page
Thanks Mary! I guess I need to start thinking of myself that way. It definitely isn’t easy to share your messy. I’m excited to read your essay too! Thanks for stopping by and for commenting!
Oh, being in the thick of it. It’s what I wrote about too. And when you fall, or get one millisecond to look around, you realize just how beautiful it all is. Thanks for sharing.
Isn’t that the truth! Thanks for stopping by and commenting Whitney. I’m excited to read your essay too!
It looks awesome!! I can’t wait to look more into it!
Thanks Dayna!
I am so excited to start the program in 1 week. This is exactly what I have been looking for to give me a boost to reach my goals both physically and spiritually! I love the new website!
Thanks Angie! I’m excited to have you join in and hope you love the challenge! 🙂
Your new sight looks great tiff! I’m happy for all you success with the business and can’t wait to do the challenge again sometime
Thanks Haylee!
All your patience and hard work is paying off!! It’s awesome, as are you!
Thanks Rach! I think you’re pretty awesome too! 😉
I am new to your challenge and I love your new site! I am trying to get my husband to do the next challenge with me and he liked looking over your new site as well. I am excited about the participant log in section and to see how it will help me through the challenge. Thanks for setting all of this up and being a great source of motivation for me to improve my life and become more healthy!
Thanks Loren! It isn’t always easy to get husbands involved, but even if he decides not to join your example will go a long way. 🙂
Looks good!
Thanks Sharon!
Looks great!
Thanks Dana!
I love it! It is so clean and fresh and wonderful! I can’t wait to explore it. 🙂
Thanks Kristin! That means a lot coming from your incredible design eye! If you have any suggestions let me know!
I love that bumper sticker! I am a hair dresser and I can’t tell you how many moms have sat in my chair and told me the hard times as a mom and it is nice to know that we are not alone and that we have each other in this messy life. Thanks for the post!
Thanks for taking the time to comment Teresa! It is so nice to remember that we are not alone in our struggles!
I love the new look! I think that anytime you spend updating and refreshing information and layouts it helps the site be more user friendly 🙂
Thanks Melissa! I hope so, that is definitely the goal! 🙂
I’m excited to get started!
I’m excited to have you join in! 🙂
Thank you so much for writing this. SO often I feel very much alone in my big messes. I too don’t trip, I FALL on my face. The biggest problem is that I don’t tell many people about my “fallings” so I haven’t been able to see as much of the beauty of others in my company on the ground. What a wonderful lesson this is. I appreciate it more than you know.
Thanks for commenting Holly! Sometimes just knowing you aren’t alone makes all the difference! Next time you fall, call me. I promise I won’t point and laugh! 😉
I love the new site! And this post was so great. Thanks!
Thanks Erin!!
Just the fact that you are even trying to improve your already awesome website is impressive and inspirational! I enjoyed the way the old one was set up, and the new one seems to be fabulous as well!! I am looking forward to exploring it more! 🙂 Way to always be positive and looking for ways (big or micro) to help improve others’ lives, and in turn, your own! 🙂 Thanks!!
OH! I had to share this!!! It’s a quote I saw on Pinterest. I NEVER RUN WITH SCISSORS. THOSE LAST TWO WORDS WERE UNNECESSARY. 🙂
Haha! Looks like I need a new number sticker! 🙂
Thank you so much for this comment Kristy! You are so sweet!
The new website looks great! I’m excited to start the challenge for the second time next week (which I haven’t even signed up for yet)!
Thanks Christine! I’m excited to have you join in again and I just saw your email, so I’ll send you an invoice asap. 🙂
Love the new site!! 🙂
I love it! It looks great! I’m so glad that you’re working on this and can’t wait to see it when it’s all the way finished! You’re awesome Tiff!!!
Thanks Amy! It definitely has a ways to go, but I’m liking the improvements so far! Hope you and baby are doing well!
I do run, but on a treadmill. Inside. Where I can not be hot….but I readily imagine myself banging my head on it, knocking myself out and waking up elsewhere. I think life is sometimes just like that. Thank you for sharing!
Haha! I love it! 🙂
I’m new to the site (via Bless this Mess Please … not sure how I found her, but delighted!). I think it’s great & very inspiring!
Thanks Heather and welcome! I love Bless This Mess too and I’m so glad you found us both! 🙂
Ah…I needed to read this tonight. Sometimes my ambitions get the better of me, and I have to realize that being a present wife, mother, friend, daughter, sisiter, etc is one of the greatest things I can ever accomplish. I love your analogy. Thank you for your honest post!
I’m so happy to hear that Amy! Thanks for taking the time to comment!
This is a great reminder, even applying to more than motherhood but in my life as a young newlywed with chronic illness. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for commenting Kacie! It’s true that even though our exact circumstances are different, our struggles are the same. Good luck with your challenges. You can do hard things!
I didn’t see the old blog, but this one is great. Thank you!
I’ve only accessed via my phone, but so far, so good!!!
What a great post! Love your honesty! We always feel alone in the race until we fall. Then I realize others are struggling too and it’s so nice to help each other! #Be.You.Tiful
Thanks! And thanks for taking the time to comment. It helps so much to know you’re not alone. 🙂
Oh my I loved this article! I found it through the Messy Beautiful page that I also submitted to! So perfect…funny and got a tear in my eye <3 It took me a while to find my "me too" crowd but I have one and really do relate in that I find the most healing when I fall on my face and have to be told "Me too" by one of them! Such a great read, thank you for sharing!
Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment Kristin! I’ll definitely be heading over to read yours too!