well HELLO there sweet darlings, my OH my it has been a hot second. I figured (This morning as I was writing down my to-do list) that I would come on here and provide a little life update for all of you as to where my presence has been online. And thought that this beautiful, Sunday morning, with a coffee cup FULL and all the birds chirping, would be the perfect time to reflect on the month of August!! So here it goes, today’s thoughts on the reflections of the month of August.

reflections on August

First things, well FIRST. August is one of my favorite months. Take the first day of school, the official beginning of cross country season, sweet husband’s birthday, the anniversary of the date we got engaged, closed on our house, and brought sweet Shiloh boy into our lives and well it most definitely has ALL the ingredients needed for sweet happiness!

And with ALL of that being said (as stated above) August definitely is the MOST exhausting month! Talk about finding routine, energy, and just TIME! Time has been my biggest thing, just trying to find it!

sometimes I believe that I thrive in the chaos. That my strengths can be found in the constant go and and clutter.

Haley. Gracefulandfree

Truthfully, sometimes I believe that I thrive in the chaos. That my strengths can be found in the constant go and and clutter. And these few months will be just that! However, while I find some form of comfortable in the craziness of an insane schedule, I also DAILY become overwhelmed with the feelings of inadequacy and that I am NOT doing enough! And so usually the thoughts and that circulate my head include:

Thoughts from August

• setting the best goals every new school year of staying on top of grading, only to realize that ya still are behind (and it is week three!)
• realizing the choice you made to avoid packing your lunch and all the many changes of clothes bags you need for work may just have resulted in you not bringing food for work the next day
• becoming frustrated when I have all the scheduled posts and content for blog and Insta ready to go, but don’t have the five seconds OR the service throughout my day to simply hit publish!
• instant annoyance at yourself when you can’t wake up on the first (or five alarms) and instead oversleep and miss the 5:30 am barre class that you should be taking
• wondering when you will ever have time to share and talk Essential Oils and grow your YL team
• and feeling like the concept of a social life is just near impossible throughout this schedule
• heck, not just a social life, but wouldn’t it be great to find a second to sit down, maybe in a bubble bath OR just to lay on the couch and read a book

I am overly ambitious and a perfectionist. And so far in August, I have been trying to stay afloat.

Now, don’t get me wrong. My intentions in writing this post were nothing more than just reflecting on the month of August. And now this is my favorite part!!

Fall, is so close

I have had this conversation with a few different people lately. That one of my favorite things about this time of the year is that the hope and optimism in knowing that FALL is just around the corner provides all the comfort and life one’s soul could need.

Yes, it is a hundred degrees outside and cross country practice in the afternoons is HOT! But, we have this natural tendency to believe that it all will be okay soon, because sooner or later the temperatures will drop and the crisp fall air will overwhelm our veins and we will find that REST!

It’s just the natural concept of seasons. That no matter how long you may feel one is, the next one will happen. Summer may be long, but FALL will arrive.

And when it does it will do so with all of its Pumpkin Spice glory. So no matter how crazy my schedule may be, I am thrilled and expectant with JOY that this next season is going to be SO GRAND! That it will be filled with rest, calm, and just an overwhelming joyful heart!

Remember this:

So my loved ones, if you find yourself in a season of crazy and chaos today please know

1. You are NOT alone.
2. You are CAPABLE.
3. Your capabilities are not tied to the expectation of PERFECTION, but the standard of GRACE.
4. Your season of thriving is just around the corner.
5. So, keep your head up, maintain the mantra of all the good vibes and positivity and know that you absolutely got this!

Thanks so much for making your way through this post friends. Love all of you and if anything resonated with your soul as you were reading, I would love to hear from you in comments!

xo. Haley