Spring is here! Spring is such a fun and exciting time. It’s also a time that I’m busy. This spring I’m coaching one of my son’s 14U baseball, keeping up with my 11 year old’s baseball games and practices, and I have two sons on two different track teams. It’s going to take a lot of scheduling and a lot of meal planning. It’s also going to take a lot of patience, and let’s face it, both patience and being on my period are not easy.
I know the moment that I’m a couple of days from starting my period. I begin to feel overwhelmed, tired, and incredibly impatient. I find myself getting irritated with my boys about things that are really not significant. Then I ask myself “why are you so irritated?” The answer is always, “I don’t know.” Then I take a break and figure out what I need to do for myself.
I realize that my body is dealing with more than my mind can handle, but I have to be able to function normally. I understand that I need to control my emotions, which we all know is not easy! Especially when I’m too bloated to wear the cute jeans that looked amazing on me the week before. And from there, my insecurities continue to take over!
I saw a video of a man discussing what women experience while on their periods. At first I thought, “what does he know?” But, he said, “the pain women experience with menstrual cramps is equal to the pain of a heart attack.” Then he expressed how amazing women are, because they are feeling that pain nonstop and are expected to function like nothing is going on.
Wow, it’s hard! It’s hard, it’s painful physically, and difficult emotionally. As women we struggle, because society frowns at our struggles and expectations are set so high that we end up disappointed in ourselves and feeling that we have done something wrong.
We shouldn’t feel that way….EVER! We should feel that we can express our emotions without being judged. We should feel happy that our bodies are doing exactly what they should be doing. We are healthy and our periods are natural. We should never be ashamed or upset. We should pamper ourselves during our periods. Eat the ice cream, enjoy the chocolate, watch a beautiful movie sunset, cry during a Hallmark movie, or take a long hot bath. This is the time to treat yourself as the strong amazing woman you are. Once we treat ourselves the way we should be treated, we can reflect, breathe, and let our lives catch up with us. There is nothing wrong with putting yourself first during your period, in fact, I think it’s healthier mentally and physically. And just take a deep breath in and exhale out, because those cute jeans will look great in about a week!
