Dear Single Mum… You Are Allowed to Want More Than Survival

There comes a moment when many single mums quietly ask themselves: 

"Is this really all life is supposed to be?"

Wake up.
Get everyone organised.
Go to work.
Cook dinner.
Pay bills.
Collapse into bed.
Repeat.

From the outside, everything may look like it's working.

But inside?

You're exhausted.

Not because you're weak.
Not because you're failing.

Because surviving requires an incredible amount of energy.

Many women become so focused on keeping everyone else afloat that they slowly lose sight of themselves.

Somewhere along the way, the dreams become "maybe one day."

Joy becomes something you remember rather than something you experience.

You stop asking yourself what you want because there never seems to be time.

Yet here's something worth reflecting on:

What if survival was never meant to be your permanent address?

What if it was simply a season?

Building a life you love doesn't begin with quitting your job, moving overseas or making huge changes overnight.

It begins much smaller.

It begins by remembering that your needs matter too.

It begins by asking yourself questions you may not have asked in years.

What lights me up?

What kind of mother do I want my children to remember?

What example do I want to set about courage, happiness and self-worth?

Our children learn far more from what we model than from what we say.

When they see a mum who believes she's worthy of joy...
who follows through on promises to herself...
who values her own wellbeing...

they receive permission to do the same.

Creating a life you're obsessed with isn't about perfection.

It's about choosing yourself again and again.

One conversation.
One boundary.
One brave decision.

You don't need to have everything figured out.

You simply need to believe that your life can become more than survival.

Because it can.

And perhaps today is the day you begin asking what that life could look like.

I'd love to hear from you.

What's one thing you'd love to create in your life over the next twelve months?

Gretel xx