Saturday Letter: To all the amazing and caring women who are always putting others first
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Today I want to talk to you about a very important hat. Yes, a hat. Please, keep reading. I promise it’s worth it.
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You know how the weeks go by so fast. You’re always busy working, doing chores, driving, cooking, cleaning, shopping for groceries…
And when you do all that you wear a lot of different hats.
Did you know that you wear a lot (!) of hats
You’re a mom, so you wear the mom-hat.
You drive your kids to school or hobbies, you wear the chauffeur-hat.
You cook or you plan the meals for the week, you wear the chef-hat.
You go to work, you wear the employee-hat (or the boss-hat!).
You see your friend for a coffee, you wear the friend-hat.
You’re with your spouse, you wear a wife-hat, fiancé-hat or a girlfriend-hat.
You fix things around the house – the janitor-hat. You clean, declutter and organize – the housekeeper-hat. You create a budget – the accountant-hat.
So. Many. Hats.
And sometimes the hats get mixed up.
Sometimes the hats get mixes up
Sometimes when you talk to your husband, you’ve forgotten your mom-hat on.
And sometimes when your husband talks to you, he might be wearing his boss-hat instead of his husband-hat.
How well do you think those conversations will go?
Wear the right hat on the right occasion, don’t just leave the hat on that you were wearing.
And whatever you do, keep the hats separate.
Keep the hats separate
Different hats might have a different meaning to you than they do to others.
You might even say the chef-hat, the janitor-hat, the accountant-hat, the chauffeur-hat, and the housekeeper-hat all go under the mom-hat. Some people even toss the wife hat there.
I don’t recommend that.
What if you’re busy and you’ve been serving snacks and microwave meals to your family. Aren’t you a good mother then?
What if you’re tired and don’t have the energy to clean or organize. Aren’t you a good mother then?
What a silly question! Of course, you are a good mother.
The chef and the housekeeper are just on vacation.
Keep the hats separate, and you’ll start feeling instantly better about yourself.
But what about the most essential hat. The hat of all hats?
The hat of all hats
For years now, way before you were wearing any of those hats listed above, you’ve had one very important hat.
That hat is often collecting dust in the basement.
It should be the most important hat, but we tend to wear it last. We only wear it if we have time.
And very often we don’t find the time, because we’re just so busy wearing all those other hats.
Sometimes, that hat is buried under excuses, self-deprivation, and guilt when instead, that hat should be celebrated.
It’s THE hat of all hats.
It’s the You-hat.
The you-hat
The You-hat can do everything you want it to do. Or it doesn’t have to anything.
That hat can be the woman-hat, the child of God -hat, or whatever hat you want it to be. You decide, no-one else has a saying in that.
That hat is not dependent on other people or on other things like the other hats are.
Because if you wear the wife-hat, it would be good to have a spouse. If you wear the chauffeur-hat, it would be good to have a car.
But the you-hat you can (and should!) wear whenever and where-ever.
When you wear the You-hat, you are in touch with your feelings, dreams, wants, and needs.
And let me tell you: that hat is perfect the way it is.
That’s the hat you were born with. And that’s the hat you’ll be wearing when it’s your time to go.
That hat develops with you over the years. And whatever happens in life, no-one can ever take that hat away from you.
It’s a pretty awesome hat, don’t you think?
So what do you do with all this information about hats?
So what do you do with all this hat-information, you might wonder… and what about the other hats?
The other hats you wear are important too. The decisions you’ve made or the circumstances you’re in are making you wear different hats.
But under any hat you wear, you should always be wearing the You-hat. The hat of all hats.
And if the You-hat is the hat you’ve been wearing your whole life and you continue wearing it 24/7 and where-ever life takes you, it is ok to cherish it, take extra good care of it and every once in a while, treat it with something nice.
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To all the amazing and caring women who are always putting others first.
With love, Cristina
WHAT IS A SATURDAY GIFT?
A Saturday gift is a small way to take care of the You-hat.
A Saturday gift is a gift you give yourself on Saturdays.
When you’re busy wearing all the other hats and the weeks just go by, take a moment to take care of yourself too.
Gift yourself something nice.
Something that you want, need or desire.
Something that will take you a step closer to your dreams.
Something that will give you a boost of energy to wear all those other hats again.
And do it every Saturday so that you’ll have a routine.
And let me be here to remind you of that.
This post was originally one of the Saturday Letters (I’ve sent to my readers via email).