I’ve been doing a lot of thinking recently about the balance of being a present mother and pursuing big dreams I have in my personal life. It’s a constant battle for me – wanting to be excellent at every aspect of my life – at being a mother, a wife, a friend, a climber, a photographer – the list is endless.

Just the other day, I shared with a dear friend of mine some of my dreams and my goals that I don’t necessarily advertise to just anyone. I’m rapidly approaching 40 and for whatever reason, I have this sense of urgency to get things done. To not waste a second. To say “yes” to adventure, life. To quit talking about doing shit and just DO it. But I struggle with wanting to also be fully present with my children – and what does that look like if I choose to get serious about getting after these dreams of mine?

This is what she said to me – “If we lose ourselves, we have nothing to give to our children. No perspective, no passion. I’m not saying that everyone needs these ‘passion projects’ – I think some people are content to just be…. But if you are not content to just be, then there is no reason to fight it…. There is and never will be the perfect balance – and you gave up a lot of yourself in the early years of your kids lives when they needed you. And because of that, they are passionate, compassionate, grounded kids who don’t need their mom every minute – they have goals of their own and will be just fine here and there if you are away a few days…. You will never regret it. The only way your family sees it is how cool is that my mom has a dream and works her tail off to accomplish it.”

So, for any mom, or anyone for that matter, out there waiting to press play on their dreams, I say go for it. Life is short and you never know when it’s going to end. I am thankful for my incredible life, and so thankful for those friends that lift me up and give me the courage to be who I am and to go for it. 🤍