Just Keep Swimming
Just keep swimming…Just keep swimming… Oh hey there and welcome back to my blog. This entire article is going to be about when reality hits and hits HARD. You know…those weeks where it just seems as though nothing is going right? I’m going to tell you all about how I cope with those hard weeks. Inevitably as a mother of three and a small business owner, these weeks come up here and there and lately they have been more here than they’ve been there.
You woke up late this morning…the kids didn’t want to get out of bed…the hot water heater didn’t even let you take your normal 3 minute shower before your water turned to icicles…and you walked outside to find none other than a flat tire. We’ve all had weeks like this, right? How could one possibly stay positive when everything is crashing around them?! Well I’ll tell you what I do. I just keep swimming. I keep putting one foot in front of the other and sometimes it is DARN hard, BUT at the end of the day I make sure I make it happen.
One major thing my family has struggled with in the past 7 months is constant viral illnesses plaguing our home…as well as a couple of plumbing leaks in our basement. Ever since that thing that ends in 19 that nobody wants to mention infected the earth it seems like our family is never healthy. (cough, cough…thanks a lot Covid) All jokes aside though, this has been a year of absolute terrible health and when you don’t feel good it makes it harder to see the positives.
On top of pushing myself to just keep swimming on days when the waves feel a little too intense to take on… I also always think about how many things I have to be grateful for. I think about how much worse I could have it. I think about how much worse some other people DO have it…and then I get in my feelings and I start feeling bad that I take the little things for granted some days. I really try not to take things for granted though because I do have SO much to be thankful for. I have a husband that could be a model and is my absolute best friend in life. I have three beautiful, spunky, and (with the exception of the chronic viral illnesses) healthy children. I own my own business in which I get to do what I love every single day while seeing all of your beautiful faces and getting to know your story in the process…what could be better? I mean it too. I love my life. I love every part of it. All of the beautiful chaos.
See without the hard weeks…without the struggle…we forget all of the things that we have to be grateful for. I am just as thankful for the bad days as I am the good because they keep me humble and remind me how good I really do have it. This isn’t maybe the approach everyone would take to a terrible week, and that’s okay; but for me, this is what keeps me sane! On the hard days it’s important to remember that it will get better and the show will go on.
Life happens. Sometimes life changes our plans. Sometimes life ruins our plans. Sometimes life just does the exact opposite of what we were hoping for and then it is our jobs as humans to make accommodations that sometimes aren’t exactly the most convenient. Meet me… Hi, I’m Ashli and I have become absolutely accustomed to making accommodations when life throws curveballs! Seriously though, I am so used to this. I always joke with my husband about the fact that literally anytime I plan ANYTHING something seems to go completely against my plan. But I just keep swimming, I make accommodations and I make it work! That’s really what life is all about. You just have to make the best out of what is thrown at you and try to stay as positive as you can.
How does this apply to photography? Well it applies often actually. Take this week for example: I had my mom in the ER multiple times not knowing she had Covid, then my husband tested positive for Covid, then my mom finally tested positive 5 days into her symptoms and now guess who is the lucky one? Yep, that’s right… My Covid test came back as positive as I try to keep my attitude! Super positive. So what does that mean for me? Moving my schedule around to keep my clients safe because keeping people safe and healthy is always my top priority. A couple of weeks ago this applied when our basements plumbing leaked for the second time in the past 5 months and we had to throw away 95% of our stuff stored in the basement…it was a LOT of stuff…like 1,000 pounds worth of stuff, but mold is not a friend of mine so to the dump it all went! The cleanup process was handled by my amazing husband who worked for 13 hours to get everything cleaned up and safe for our family.
Just keep swimming is something that can apply to almost every aspect of my life depending on how hard my week is. I just keep moving and try to stay as positive as possible. What are some things that are hard for you to deal with that you could apply this to? Do you feel like you handle your stress well or does it all pile up and get the best of you?
I’m very thankful for my clients that have been very patient with me as I haven’t had a ton of energy to get photos uploaded and edited this week. My head has been absolutely pounding, I’m beyond exhausted and even writing this was a huge stretch of my strength this week but I decided to take the opportunity to explain what I do on the hard weeks in case it could help someone else! The show must go on and I’m praying for better health very soon.
~Ashli