Mind, Body and Soul Manifestations

So last night, I found myself wide awake at 1:30am with a million coaching-related thoughts running through my brain. I tried to breathe and shut it out, but it just didn't happen. I did what my Dad always told me helped him. I got up and wrote a "brain dump." I just wrote down everything that I was thinking about. I'm not sure that it made everything better, but it certainly calmed my stress and anxiety enough that I could go back to bed without tossing and turning every few minutes. Being a teacher and coach is a stressful position to be in, especially toward the end of the school year. Over the past week or so, I have found myself second-guessing a lot of my decisions. I don't like to be in that place mentally; however, I am also self-critical by nature on top of being a people-pleaser, so I find myself overthinking everything most of the time. It's a blessing and a curse. On one hand I think it makes me a better person and a better employee. I hold mysel...

Okay Moms of America, I have a serious question: How in the hell did you survive taking off for 12 weeks unpaid?? I appreciate that the FMLA helps me not to lose my job when I have a baby, but I think it is appalling that I am expected to be able to sustain my current lifestyle (by this, I mean paying my mortgage, electric bill, phone bill, and maybe the occasional dinner out) PLUS a baby without a paycheck for 12 weeks...or maybe 8 weeks if I use my 4 weeks of sick/personal leave that I have accrued/borrowed from the next year. I never put much thought into the family medical leave act prior to becoming pregnant, but now that this potential financial crisis is looming ahead of me, I am freaking out a little. I won't even get started on the fact that if I was a single Mom without a husband who has a job/income, I don't know how I'd be able to stay out of work more than a week without pay... If you are a Mom who had unpaid maternity leave, did you take a full 12 weeks? W...