My heart skipped a beat when I laid eyes on this Micky In The Van rose-print jumpsuit at Estelle’s boutique. The saying “Everything’s coming up roses” came to mind. But at that particular moment in time, everything was anything but rosey.I’d just come out of a really hectic period of over-commitment and not enough rest. I had so much on my plate that I was feeling drained, physically and emotionally. I found myself in an indecisive, impatient and incoherent mess. I started questioning why I couldn’t ‘do it all’ anymore? Hubby gently reminded me: “Honey, you’ve never juggled so many balls before!” Looking back, maybe combining full time work with another part time role, a blog and a baby wasn’t the wisest decision. I didn’t like being told  that I couldn’t ‘do it all’, but as a result, I learned that when you juggle too many balls, sooner or later, they will start falling. Friends were asking “Why can’t you just say ‘no’ to things?” A part of me didn’t want to. I wanted to prove that I could ‘do it all’. I was also so muddled and sleep deprived that I couldn’t really think straight, nor did I have the willpower to decline anything. But thankfully, I now feel like a new woman. I have so much more energy, clarity, focus and drive. I still have many commitments (and the same baby who doesn’t sleep through the night), but I am more decisive, authoritative and appreciative and less stressed, frazzled and anxious. What happened?
I came across this verse, spoken by a great leader who was also had over-commitment issues: “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” The verse comes from the famous story of the parting of the Red Sea – when surrounded on all sides and in an impossible situation, Moses was reminded that stressing out, grumbling, worrying or getting anxious were all likely to make a bad situation worse.  Now Moses wasn’t saying that we should sit around and do nothing (he was very much of a do-er himself).  Instead, we should understand that when we face battles and obstacles that are out of our control, we should learn to be at peace with it – in times of distress, we don’t need to stress – just leave the impossible and unpredictable in God’s hands.  Life gets pretty hectic sometimes, but the good news is, we don’t have to ‘do it all’ – we can just focus on loving all we do. So if one day your commitments overwhelm you, I hope you can stop, re-evaluate and learn to be still.

I am so thankful that now that it’s time for me to share this Micky In The Van jumpsuit, while strolling through the serene gardens of the Rippon Lea Estate, everything in my life is coming up roses once again. I’m finally learning to say ‘yes’ to the best and ‘no’ to the rest (but I know to say ‘yes’ to rest!)

Vintage Blazer, Scarf & Bag // Micky In The Van Jumpsuit // Habbot Pumps

Photos by Karen Woo

Taken at Rippon Lea Estate