When December is Grey

I felt like I was losing my mind.

I was hot then cold and then hot again. 

Everything was blah.

My face was constantly breaking out. 

I didn’t want to decorate for the holidays. 

I just wanted to lay in bed and hope everything would just take care of itself.

I was tired. Anxious. On the edge of a crying meltdown most days.

December was here and everything was in full swing. Christmas shopping, parties, gift giving, but I just felt so melancholy about everything.

Everything was grey, and I couldn’t find my “Christmas joy” to save my life.

Sound familiar?

Seven years ago, I was a homeschooling mother of 4 middle schoolers at the time. Exhaustion was just part of daily life for me. But I knew that something else was going on. I hated the way I felt and no one seemed to understand me. My husband didn’t, and of course, my children didn’t. 

I knew I couldn’t keep up so I scheduled an appointment with my doctor to talk about it. My OB to be precise, and I’m glad I went that route.

He and I talked about what was going on and my age (33 y’all … young, right?) and he told me that it was completely normal to start seeing these signs.

My hormones were mad at me. They were having problems leveling out due to babies and just getting older. They were completely out of whack and the reason I felt like I was losing my mind.

It was time for change

Small simple changes were the key to getting back to feeling myself. Coupled with a prescribed supplement, I started working out and eating better. Slowly, I started understanding what I could do to change these feelings. Focusing on feeling my best so I could be the best for my children.

When your hormones are working right, they are the unsung heroes in your health both mental and physical. As mothers, we tend to have such a “push through” mentality that we neglect ourselves. This thinking is completely opposite of what we need to be doing!

I’m going to encourage you today ~ if you’ve been feeling some of this, please see someone! Talk to someone! Make some changes that are good for you and your family. The time you have now is something you’ll never get back.

You need to feel your best to make the best memories possible before the season is gone.

Carlie
Carlie is a divorced mom of five. She moved to Lafayette 22 years ago from a small town in-between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. She has four young adult children from her first marriage that ended after 19 years, Christopher, Cara, Clay and Cade. She has a one year old daughter, Poppy Mae with her significant other, Joey. She is a work-at-home mother who is a freelance writer and photographer/owner of Carlie Anne Collective. Organized chaos and tons of lists are her style. Carlie loves to workout, travel, visit with her friends, bike with Poppy Mae in their neighborhood, attend outdoor concerts, eat out at local restaurants, walk aimlessly through stores looking for good deals and swing in her hammock while chatting about her BST addiction with her online friends. She keeps an active Instagram account as a photo journal of her days.