{"id":6519,"date":"2011-10-27T05:00:46","date_gmt":"2011-10-27T10:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=6519"},"modified":"2011-10-27T08:57:49","modified_gmt":"2011-10-27T13:57:49","slug":"i-keep-my-cape-in-the-car-where-do-you-keep-yours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2011\/10\/i-keep-my-cape-in-the-car-where-do-you-keep-yours\/","title":{"rendered":"I keep my cape in the car. Where do you keep yours?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Have you ever been guilty of being in awe of friends and family members who appear to \u201chave it all together?\u201d Have you felt the pressure to be like them? Do these friends and family members post the most productive, up-before-6 a.m.-and-have-already-done-everything-you-would-hope-to-accomplish-in-one-day<\/em> Facebook statuses? Do you look to them with drool-filled awe, only to fall flat on your face trying to do what they do? Have you ever stopped and wondered why this is?<\/p>\n

Do you like to be peppered with endless questions? {Don\u2019t answer that!}<\/em><\/p>\n

I know this feeling all too well. I\u2019ve fallen into the same trap. I see \u201cBetsy\u201d has woken up before her kids, spent time praying the Office<\/a>, went for a five mile run while listening to Matt Maher<\/a>, showered, dressed to the nines and AND made a piping hot meal for her husband before he left for work. She has her entire day planned out – or so says her Facebook status update. She\u2019ll be back before day\u2019s end, she says, to update all of us about her accomplishments for the day. Oh yay. I can\u2019t wait<\/strong>. Especially since my day, by contrast, consists of dragging my bahookie out of bed, maybe<\/strong> changing out of my pajamas, pulling a brush through my hair, having some cold coffee {my Facebook update reflects that a fruit fly dive bombed my cup, by the way}<\/em>, dragging the kids to the kitchen table for a simple breakfast of cold cereal and some nearly expired milk, and trying like crazy to get through ONE. STINKIN\u2019. day of homeschooling where I don’t end up in a parent\/teacher conference {that would be me in the corner talking to myself for those of you who need a visual}<\/em>. Ta-da!!<\/p>\n

Today I\u2019m going to dispel a myth you\u2019ve likely entertained in the back of your mind as questionably untrue. The illusion of having it all together? Yeah. Just an illusion. Modern day advances have made it easy for us to appear as superhuman as we want.<\/p>\n

Therein lies the problem.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>From time to time, I\u2019ve received private messages from friends asking me how I do it all. You know. With five kids…and now with one on the way<\/a>, homeschooling, heavily involved in my parish community, moderating an online Catholic women\u2019s group, creator of Catholic Sistas<\/a> and, of course, blogging for Austin Catholic New Media!…I must<\/strong> be cut from some hard-to-find cloth that makes it so simple to juggle, while looking great {not that I think I look great, stay with me on this…we’re perpetuating a myth here!}<\/em> and keeping a tidy house, amiright?<\/p>\n

While I am completely flattered that my friends think so highly of my perceived mad skeelz, I am very quick to point out that my updates can {and do}<\/em> make me appear to be super busy and productive. The reality is that I rarely get everything {anything?}<\/em> done on my \u201cto-do\u201d list. In fact, some days…especially days where I don’t have to be<\/strong>\u00a0somewhere? I am probably still in my jammies. {disclaimer: In my house, jammies during the day are acceptable as long as it does not impede work done around the house – the only exception to this rule is when caring for sick kidlets or I am sick myself}.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On paper, I\u00a0look pretty busy. I\u00a0look very organized. It\u00a0looks like things are running fairly seamlessly in my house. I can assure you that none of that is true<\/em>. Yes, I appreciate the ability to look<\/em> more “productive” via FB status updates but\u00a0{I often tell local friends this}<\/em> as long as you don’t stop by my house unannounced, you can keep your illusion about me. And me about you. {you should especially not stop by around 4 p.m. or thereafter or you’ll find me staring blankly into the fridge wondering what’s for dinner…you’d think I’d have learned by now, huh?}<\/em><\/p>\n

The flip side to all this is, that while we can appear to look like we are juggling it all, you can also be assured that your friends are operating the same way you do. We’re human. We’ll fail our “to do” list everyday, just like we will fail in our walk with Christ. What matters in the end isn’t what<\/strong>\u00a0we got crossed off the list, but our resolve to get back up and pick up where we left off the day before.<\/p>\n

So before you get discouraged with yourself because it appears that others are moving mountains through their FB updates, remember it’s just that. Appearances.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you ever been guilty of being in awe of friends and family members who appear to \u201chave it all together?\u201d Have you felt the pressure to be like them? Do these friends and family members post the most productive, up-before-6 a.m.-and-have-already-done-everything-you-would-hope-to-accomplish-in-one-day Facebook statuses? Do you look to them with drool-filled awe, only to fall… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[2895,321,318,322,320,319],"class_list":{"0":"post-6519","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-blog","7":"tag-catholic-sistas","8":"tag-divine-office","9":"tag-facebook","10":"tag-hours-of-the-liturgy","11":"tag-matt-maher","12":"tag-super-hero","13":"entry","14":"has-post-thumbnail"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16349,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/05\/unliking-facebook\/","url_meta":{"origin":6519,"position":0},"title":"Unliking Facebook","author":"Brandon Kraft","date":"May 14, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Friendster, MySpace, Facebook? 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What a great\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"create a family litany of saints","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/All-Saints-300x201.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":165498,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/10\/coping-with-grief-on-all-souls-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":6519,"position":4},"title":"Coping with Grief on All Souls Day","author":"Britt Echtenkamp","date":"October 26, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"One week from today, on November 2, 2015, we, the Church, will celebrate All Souls Day. All Souls Day is a time to remember those who have gone before us, a time to pray for them, and to ask them to pray for us. 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