The hands down most common objection to healthy living that I hear from moms is “I am too busy.” I don’t have time to prep meals. I don’t have time to workout. I am too tired to do anything once I do everything else I have to do.

Can you relate to this?

I’ll answer that for you….of course, you can! You have kids, a job, a house, a life, things to do, people to see, groceries to buy , errands to run, Cub Scout meetings, gymnastics, baseball games to attend, etc. There is very little downtime. And that downtime is what most moms would imagine the “wellness/fitness/eating healthy” blob would fit into if it could fit in somewhere. Let me suggest something radical…..are you ready?

Wellness is not a to-do list item.

Eating nourishing foods and being physically active does not live on the same plane as volunteering at the kids’ school. It’s not another thing to do. It is on a whole other level. Think about taking care of your kids. Do you ever say “I have so much to do, I don’t have time to take care of my kids”?  Of course not! Because taking care of your kids is not an item on your to-do list. Wellness is on the same level as taking care of your kids. It’s a million little things that you do every day, most of them without debate or even a thought. It should not be something you’re “too busy” for, because it is not one item, it’s a continuous process. Where we get caught up and confused is in our mindset about wellness. When there is something that we want to do differently, but there is so much “thought baggage” related to our daily wellness processes, it becomes an overcomplicated burden.

What to do about this? First of all, don't stress! Take a deep breath and simplify.

Your idea of optimal wellness is up to you, not anyone else. How you express it in your life is up to you, not anyone else. Gather information, decide and commit to your course of action. It does not have to be complicated. Small things add up to big things. Small things make a big difference. __ Original post appeared at Mindset Wellness Coaching. Reprinted with permission.