It’s 6:00am.  I am running on 5 hours of sleep and two cups of coffee.  What comes next in my day has yet to be determined by someone other than me… and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I have to laugh. I think back to a few months ago, when my days were dictated by a lengthy to-do list, when every minute was well-planned and had a clearly defined purpose. Even my moments of downtime were thoughtfully written into my day.

Schedules – they become integrated into our lives at such an early age.  What time to wake up, when to eat, how long we have to bathe and get dressed before it is time to leave the house and go to school or work, and so forth.  Our lives are centered around the clock, around time, because that is how our society operates. We are forced into functioning this way, to become a part of the norm.

Some are better than others at setting and following a schedule.  And in my case, the multi-tasker and overachiever I always was had not one, but several daily to-do lists and schedules that I depended on, otherwise, I tended to feel lost or like I was wasting precious time.  To me, one of the worst feelings was not accomplishing anything.

And doesn’t that sound soooo thrilling?!  Multiple schedules, ticking clocks and tightly-wound nerves?  Gotta get this done, rush here, do that… Was this really how I was operating all these years?  And most importantly, did this make me happy??

Soon after the New Year, a major transformation took place in my life: I became a mom to a healthy, beautiful baby girl.  And with my transformation into a mom came an epic shift: my life no longer operated on a set schedule.

Before Logan arrived, in my mind I saw myself raising and nursing a baby but also envisioned that I would still have much time and energy to tackle a daily to-do list…or two.  In reality, after the first few days of being home from the hospital, I still found myself writing out a daily list of things I thought I needed to accomplish outside of motherhood.  But as you might expect, there was little time to accomplish anything beyond eating, sleeping and attending to my daughter.  I was truly at her mercy!

But the funny thing is, Logan helped me to discover this lack of schedule thing wasn’t only enjoyable, it was something I had been missing in my life, even craving. I had previously neglected to slow down my life a little because it seemed unproductive and, therefore, wrong. Was sitting on the couch, passing the time by staring into my daughter’s eyes really allowed? It wasn’t only allowed, it was productive!  I was connecting with my beautiful baby girl!

Whether Logan was awake or asleep, all I wanted to do was immerse myself in her…and I allowed myself the freedom to enjoy it.  I couldn’t get enough of her – nursing her, holding her, admiring her.  It was an incredible time of bonding I think I may have needed more than she did.

She filled me with such joy, and my heart was continually overwhelmed with intense emotion.  How could I ever put a time limit on THAT?  Looking back, my sweet baby girl taught me a valuable, life-changing lesson: slowing down to truly enjoy the present is one of the most worthy accomplishments.

While I have already returned to a little more scheduled way of life – both personally and professionally – I promised Logan and myself that I will consciously choose to take much more time to enjoy the present and will always welcome a little unpredictability. The people in my life deserve it…and so do I.

In case you were wondering, it took me 4 days to write this blog post.  But it doesn’t matter because I’ve been spending the majority of each of those days with the most beautiful girl I’ve ever known, doing whatever she wants to do, whenever she wants…and I‘m enjoying every moment.

Let me ask you – what one thing do you wish you could do more of if your schedule allowed it?  How would you feel if you could somehow incorporate it into your busy life?  And maybe most importantly, what is keeping you from making it happen?  Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.

I hope you will meet me here next Monday for an adorable photo exercise on capturing your baby’s current favorite things! Until then…

First Year Cheers,

Jen