Do you have Superwoman Syndrome?
How many hats do you wear?
Let’s see….today I was football mom, blogger, car mechanic, chef, chauffeur, driving instructor, Dr. mom, friend, and entrepreneur (I’m sure I’m forgetting a few but if I keep going I’ll get too tired!). I’m sure if you thought of all of the roles that you fulfilled and all of the tasks you performed today you will probably break out into a little sweat.
The women of today are challenged to fulfill many different roles, while doing it so well that is shows up beautifully on your Instagram and Facebook feed.
Multi-tasking is a cherished skill and holding still is a cardinal sin.
Time management is code for fit as many things as possible into a five-minute block of time.
Go hard or go home becomes the motto….except for the fact that when you go home you will just have to clean up, cook dinner, and do homework with the kids!
All of this leads up to a question I have for you…..Have you heard of Superwoman Syndrome? Wondering if you have it? Here are a few quick questions to help you self-diagnose:
Do I feel the need to do it all?
Do I often feel the need to prove something?
Do I rarely say “no” to others?
Do I take on more and more responsibility?
Do I often feel stressed and unhappy?
Do I constantly feel overwhelmed?
Do I feel the need to be the perfect mother/wife/daughter?
Do I want to be everything to everyone?
Women with Superwoman Syndrome often strive for perfection and have very high expectations of themselves. Because you are always on the go, helping someone out, chauffeuring the kids to practice, or working, there is very rarely time that is dedicated just to you. If you do manage to find a few minutes, there is a slight twinge of guilt that you are actually doing something just for you. You might even think you are being selfish by doing something for yourself.
As you can imagine, wearing all of these hats and trying to live up to these unrealistic expectations creates a lot of stress. This stress begins to take a toll on you….emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Perhaps you’ve noticed that you are more irritable or short tempered lately. Maybe you’ve been having frequent headaches and muscle tension in your neck and shoulders. You might even have been struggling to remember things and are having difficulty multi-tasking. Guess what? The stress of the Superwoman Syndrome is wearing you down! But the good news is that you can do something about it!!!!!
Finding out how to balance the many hats (roles) that you wear and the love (self-care) that you show to yourself is how you do it. You may still have a ton of things to juggle, but taking care of yourself allows you to better manage all of the balls in the air.
September’s blog posts are dedicated to Self-Care for the Superwoman. Think of it like this…. when the flight attendants are doing their pre-flight safety review they always tell adults to put their own oxygen masks on first before putting on the children’s masks. If you don’t make sure your needs are met, then you won’t be available to take care of others. Simply put, self-care keeps your lungs from collapsing from lack of oxygen!
We will start with different ways we can manage our stress. Tune in next week to read about the “Joys and Pains of Retail Therapy”.
