Spiritual Practice, WODs, and a High Strung Toddler

     My third daughter will be two this month.  She is what we mountain folks call "high strung".  I have seen others on parenting forums call it "spirited".  As one of my friends told me just yesterday, "I don't think they could pack any more personality into such a little person."  She keeps me busy, and is demanding.  She is also very funny and can be pretty sweet.  However, when you are trying to find time to breathe, eat, relax, and pray, having a spirited toddler can make those times seem few and far between.

     I'm an introverted person who loves public speaking.  Despite my best efforts to thrive in 24/7 mothering, I know that I need down time.  I require time with Creator.  I require time in silence.  My husband is a very hard worker and the hours he keeps means we see little of him through the week.  There are days when I don't know how I'll last until bed time, and there aren't any alternatives.  No ways out.  Motherhood is a lifetime commitment with very few breaks.

     I have to say the last two years of adding a third child has not been easy for me.  It has taken much adjustment.  It has taken me a while to find my stride.  A few months ago, I think I finally found my sustaining spiritual practice again.  

     This hill is my spiritual practice.  The goal is to be able to climb it to the top ten times without stopping at full speed.  I know, that sounds like a workout, and it is, but it is also my focused time with the Divine.  

     I wake up early enough to give myself time for a workout of the day (WOD) inspired by CrossFit.  My husband is with our girls and I have the freedom to breathe, to pray, to sweat, to cry, to laugh, and to be.  As a someone who relished in yoga, reading, meditation, and walks alone prior to having another baby, I have been thrown by the needs of such a spirited little person showing up to fill my days with her outward expression of Divine Spark.  These workouts are my time to renew and rebuild myself body and soul in very little time.  

     I am now up to eight repetitions of the hill.  On Mondays, I run until I get to the steepest part of the hill and then I climb.  The rest of the five days that I take for self care, I do the Body Weight Workouts at StrengthReliance.com.  I'm so thankful for that free service.  I'm slowly lifting myself back up and reminding myself that giving to my family from an empty well is not really giving.  I'm reminding myself that as a mother, I have to learn new ways of being.  Right can look so many different ways.  So, when my baby is climbing all over me and I feel tapped out, I can be thankful that I had time to listen to the still small voice, and I can be present for her.