On this raw episode, we're diving deep into turning our nighttime brain from its usual worry-fest into a celebration of all we've done right during the day. So, you know how the night usually invites all those anxious thoughts? Well, I've discovered a game-changer that I just have to share with you. It’s all about ending the day on a high note of gratitude and self-love that literally transforms our nights into peaceful thank-yous instead of worry-filled whys.
And, specifically to all my fellow parents out there--juggling the highs and lows, spaghetti sauce incidents, and those heavy heart moments—this one's especially for you. We’re going to chat about dropping the guilt and picking up some nurturing advice that helps us love ourselves as much as we love our kiddos. No special guests and no tricks—just a heart-to-heart talk while I put on my make-up, sharing real stories and embracing our journey together. Let’s learn to mute the self-critique and tune into a lullaby of our own successes. Drift to sleep with a slight smile, instead of tossing and turning, sweating it out! You deserve it!
On this raw episode, we're diving deep into turning our nighttime brain from its usual worry-fest into a celebration of all we've done right during the day. So, you know how the night usually invites all those anxious thoughts? Well, I've discovered a game-changer that I just have to share with you. It’s all about ending the day on a high note of gratitude and self-love that literally transforms our nights into peaceful thank-yous instead of worry-filled whys.
And, specifically to all my fellow parents out there--juggling the highs and lows, spaghetti sauce incidents, and those heavy heart moments—this one's especially for you. We’re going to chat about dropping the guilt and picking up some nurturing advice that helps us love ourselves as much as we love our kiddos. No special guests and no tricks—just a heart-to-heart talk while I put on my make-up, sharing real stories and embracing our journey together. Let’s learn to mute the self-critique and tune into a lullaby of our own successes. Drift to sleep with a slight smile, instead of tossing and turning, sweating it out! You deserve it!
Hello and welcome to the Cameo Show. I'm your host, cameo, and today's format might look a little different if you're watching the video, and that's because I'm doing it while I put on my makeup. If you're not watching the video and you're listening on a podcast platform, you probably won't notice much of a difference, maybe a few longer pauses here or there. However, in an effort to live a more authentic life, I am implementing some of the things that I do on a regular basis to all of my habits, and that includes recording podcasts. So I am working on making the most of my time, and so there, in my opinion, isn't really any reason why I can't talk to you and put on my makeup at the same time, especially when I'm running short on time, which always seems to be the issue. So as long as the audio is okay, I figured we'll go for it, and it might not be your typical podcast rules, but it's my podcast, so I'm kind of making the rules how I want them to be. Anyway, today's conversation is probably going to be pretty quick, which is also perfect for this situation, but it was something that I've been thinking about over the last couple of days that I thought I would share with you.
Speaker 1:
So many of us can be plagued with anxiety, and I found in my experience that I was experiencing the most anxiety at night. When I got into bed and I was trying to wind down, I would start going through all of the things that I messed up for the day, all of the things that I missed, all of the reactivity that I had and how bad I felt about it and how it may have impacted my kids or my husband or someone that I am doing a business transaction with, and so I would lay there and try to unwind and I would run through all of my misses and my anxiety would start to spiral out of control. And then, of course, I can't go to sleep because I'm laying there now, worried and in a tizzy, with rapid breathing and all kinds of you know the symptoms that you experience when you experience anxiety as I'm trying to go to sleep. So that wasn't helping super unhealthy. So I thought, oh my gosh, there's got to be a better way Instead of laying here every night, beating myself up over the things that I missed, like especially when the kids were little oh my gosh, I forgot to send them to school in pajamas for pajama day. Or, oh my gosh, I rushed them out the door this morning without letting them finish their breakfast because we were in a hurry, because I got them up late. Or, oh my gosh, I completely snapped at Greg, my husband, today, because he didn't do something I was expecting him to do or he didn't do it my way.
Speaker 1:
I started flipping my moments of criticism of myself to moments of gratitude, and I know that sounds so cliche, but here's the thing, y'all. It changed my life and here's why it changed my life, because I would fall asleep calmly with a smile on my face, thinking about how lucky I am, all the things that I did right, all of the things that I'm grateful for, and it completely changed the way that I laid in bed and I was actually able to relax. I stopped judging myself so much and I started appreciating myself at the close of my day. Now I know gratitude journaling is nothing new and it's something that a lot of people do and that's fine, but what I found is that I wasn't necessarily making the time to do gratitude journaling, so if I left it to this activity that I needed to do, like get out a piece of paper and write things down, which I love doing. You all know I love my checklists. If you have been listening for a while, I talk about them frequently, but I wasn't finding the time to get out a piece of paper and write down, you know, all the things I did right today, or all of the things that made me happy today, or all of the things that I'm grateful for today. It just wasn't getting done because that was an activity that, like, I just didn't have time for.
Speaker 1:
We're all out of time all the time, so trying to find the time at the end of the day to get out my journal and write these things down was like impossible because I'm tired. But I would lay there with my eyes closed and I would go through all of the things that I got right and as soon as my mind would start creeping into you messed up territory, I would immediately well, maybe not immediately, but as quickly as I could catch it correct myself and flip it from I messed up to what did I do right. Or if I was hung up on something that maybe I did wrong, instead of beating myself up about it, I would, you know, depending on how awake or sleepy I was, I would think through what happened with some calm clarity and try to figure out like what can I do differently next time? And because I'm trying to fall asleep, because I'm doing this in my bed with my eyes closed, without a piece of paper or without anyone needing anything from me, without trying to find time to jam it into my day somewhere else, I was uninterrupted and I was free to think without any pressure or without any need to explain myself. I could just simply go over these things in my head and feel really great about it for myself. So if you find yourself at night slipping into this pattern of listen, don't judge me for the way I'm putting on my makeup, because not only is it hard to do while you're having a conversation with an audience, but it's also I'm not that great at it. Anyway, I just do the best I can. So if you're watching the video and you're judging how I'm putting my makeup on, this is not a video to judge how I put my makeup on. Anyway, if you find yourself at night laying in bed, getting stuck into that loop of all the things you forgot to do and all the things you miss, I encourage you to try it my way.
Speaker 1:
Like I said, it changed my life. It changed how I felt about myself at the end of the day. It changed how I felt physically at the end of the day. It changed how I went to sleep. Instead of falling asleep in a state of panic or with heightened physical symptoms, I would actually fall asleep in a calm way, with literally a smile on my face, a slight smile on my face. I could feel it. I could feel the change in the tightness in my chest. I could feel the change in my breathing. Now some people call it praying, and that's fine. Some people call it, like I said, gratitude, journaling. I just called it a shift in what I was doing at night. Instead of being anxious and beating myself up, I called it being kind to myself before I fell asleep. I don't know that it improved my sleep or the amount of sleep that I was getting, or if it helped me fall asleep any faster, but I will say that it made me feel better about myself.
Speaker 1:
We are constantly running in a million different directions, trying to keep up, trying to make sure that we do everything for everyone, without losing ourselves, of course, and it just keeps getting more and more difficult the more things we add onto our plate and if we aren't being good to ourselves and being a friend to ourselves by offering some compassion, as we would to anyone else, as we would to a friend. And then, of course, there's also the moment of gratitude, not just for the things in your life or the people in your life, but also for yourself, and it gives you that opportunity, at the close of the day, to thank yourself for all the things that you did right, instead of alienating yourself for all the things that you missed. We have to pause while I put on mascara, because it's impossible to do while talking. Okay, mascara's on, I can talk again. Now let me tell you something as I close down this episode.
Speaker 1:
You have the ability to make changes in your life that will better your situation. You don't need permission. You don't need anyone to tell you it's okay. You don't need anyone to tell you that it's the right thing to do or why you should do it. You don't need me to tell you that. But if you feel like you need permission from someone, here it is. I'm giving it to you to make the change at night that I'm mentioning to give yourself some love and appreciation at night, instead of going over all the things you messed up and beating yourself up for it. Here's your permission to do that. You're allowed to feel good about the things that you did right and you do not have to suffer for the things that you missed. You are a human. You are not perfect. You will not get it right all the time. You get to make the rules, you get to make the changes, just like this.
Speaker 1:
This is ridiculous that I'm putting on makeup while I record a podcast episode. But do you know what? I don't care, and do you know why? Because it's not really about what I look like on the video. If anybody's watching it, it's about what I'm saying and if the message resonates. So, permission to do the things that make sense to you, for you, in a way that betters your life. You have complete permission if you need it from me, but I also think that you should grant it to yourself and feel really good about it, because you deserve it and you get one life to do the things that you love and to feel good about the things that you do and the people that you care about. And the world is harsh enough without you being harsh on yourself. Hey, you know what else Share this with somebody who might be beating themselves up over the tiny little things that we go through in life that feel huge in the moment.
Speaker 1:
So I'm not like minimalizing any of those feelings, especially when you're a mom and you're like, oh my God, I keep messing up. Listen, I'm not minimalizing that. I get it. It feels like a big deal in the moment and sometimes it is, but here's the deal. If this message resonated with you and it feels good to have somebody say, hey, here's an idea that might help make your life better. This changed my life. Maybe you should try it, send it to somebody else who you think might benefit from it too, because all it takes is one person to give you a new idea, or one person to give you permission to try something new, or to remind you that you're worth it for them or for you to affect meaningful change in your life. Until next time, thanks for being here.