You Deserve a Round of Applause (Even If You’re Having a Hot Mess Day)

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Sometimes the best life lessons arrive disguised as a low tire, a flying key fob, and a rainy parking lot.

There are days when I feel like I have it all together.

And then there are days that remind me I am, in fact, just a regular human trying to figure things out as I go.

This week delivered one of those reminders.

It started with a phone call from my middle daughter, who had borrowed her sister’s car and noticed the tire pressure was low. I told her not to worry and that her dad could take a look at it after work. Problem solved. At least that’s what I thought.

A little later, she invited me to lunch. And by invited me to lunch, I mean I paid for lunch. Apparently, “I’m just a girl home from college” is now a perfectly acceptable reason to leave your wallet at home.

Since we were already heading out, I decided we would stop and add air to the tire ourselves. There was absolutely no reason to bother my husband with such a simple task.

Or so I believed.

My daughter looked at me and said, “You should probably just wait on Daddy.”

Now, I don’t know if she was questioning my tire-filling abilities or simply trying to save me from myself, but I was determined to prove that I could handle it.

When Confidence Meets Reality

I pulled up to the air pump feeling confident and capable. I paid my money, grabbed the hose, and got to work. Everything was going according to plan until I decided that if I was already there, I might as well add air to all four tires and make sure everything was evenly balanced.

That seemed like a responsible adult decision.

Unfortunately, one of the tires disagreed.

Instead of improving the situation, I somehow managed to create a new one. The tire immediately started losing air, and at that point, lunch sounded like a much better use of my time and energy.

I wish I could tell you the story ended there.

It did not.

The Rainy Parking Lot Reality Check

After lunch, I stopped by the grocery store to pick up salmon for dinner. As my daughter and I walked across the parking lot, I pulled my key fob out of my pocket.

For reasons I still cannot explain, it launched out of my hand and slid directly underneath the car parked next to us.

Not beside the car.

Not near the tire.

Underneath the entire vehicle.

So there I was, standing in the rain, staring at my key fob and questioning every life decision that had led me to that exact moment.

A few minutes later, I found myself on my hands and knees in a grocery store parking lot, reaching underneath a stranger’s car while my daughter watched the entire scene unfold.

Eventually, I retrieved the key fob, climbed back into my car, and drove away.

And then I started laughing.

Because honestly, what else could I do?

Why We Need to Give Ourselves More Credit

As I drove home, I realized how easy it is to focus on the things that go wrong.

We replay mistakes. We think about what we should have done differently. We criticize ourselves for the things that didn’t go according to plan. In fact, research on self-compassion shows that many of us are far harder on ourselves than we would ever be on a friend.

What we often fail to notice is everything we’re doing right.

As women, mothers, wives, business owners, caregivers, and human beings, we carry so much responsibility. We manage schedules, solve problems, support the people we love, and keep moving forward even when life feels messy and unpredictable.

Yet somehow, many of us are far more likely to focus on the low tire than the fact that we showed up.

We focus on the key fob under the car instead of the countless things we successfully handled that day.

We overlook our effort because we’re too busy noticing our imperfections.

A Little Encouragement for Moms (And Everyone Else)

If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed, discouraged, or like you’re not doing enough, let me remind you of something.

You don’t have to have everything figured out to be doing a good job.

You don’t have to get it right every time.

You don’t have to be perfect.

Life is messy. Motherhood is messy. Relationships are messy. Growth is messy.

And sometimes being an adult means accidentally creating extra work for yourself at an air pump before crawling around a parking lot in the rain.

That doesn’t mean you’re failing.

It means you’re living.

It means you’re trying.

It means you’re showing up.

You Deserve a Round of Applause

So today, before you move on to the next thing on your to-do list, I want you to stop for just a moment.

Take a breath.

Think about everything you’ve carried this week.

Think about the challenges you’ve navigated, the people you’ve cared for, the responsibilities you’ve handled, and the ways you’ve continued to show up even when you didn’t feel like it.

Then give yourself some credit. Because you’re doing better than you think.

If you need another reminder, I wrote about this lesson years ago in a post called We All Need a Reminder Sometimes. Apparently, some reminders are worth repeating.

You are kind.

You are capable.

You are needed.

You are loved.

And you are absolutely FABulous.

The world needs exactly who you are, even on the days when you’re feeling a little bit like a hot mess. And if you happen to find yourself on your hands and knees in a rainy parking lot this week, just know you’re in good company.

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