The One Lie All Women Need to Stop Believing

I recently had lunch with a friend I had not visited with in a while. We shared how things were going in our lives. We talked about our kids, health, taking care of our homes, and spiritual development.

As we were talking through these things, my friend commented that she felt guilty for saying “no” to a lot of good opportunities to help out at church or with her kids’ schools. Here’s the thing, though. She just got through telling me how busy life was right now just keeping up with her kids and their activities as well as maintaining their home and being a support to her husband as he has taken on a new ministry role at church.

She was believing the lie “I’ve got to do it all!”

The truth is we don’t have to do it all. There are only so many hours in a day to do what we know God is leading us to do. If we try to add in more than what we can handle, it will only lead to chaos and stress. On top of that we will leave are callings unfulfilled because we are busy doing too many things.

Here are two tips to help you stop believing the lie of having to do it all:

1. Consider what you are already committed to.

Once you take a good hard look at your calendar and commitments, it’s easy to see how much time left you have for other obligations. Maybe you are in a season of life where you can take on additional activities or responsibilities. If so, great! However, be sure you try to only take on those things about which you are passionate or feel God leading you to do.

If you are in a busy season like my friend, give yourself grace and breathing room by saying “no” to anything else that doesn’t fit into your life right now. Remind yourself that there will be time for other activities and responsibilities later.

2. Quit comparing your life to someone else’s.

Another topic my friend and I talked about was social media. We agreed that not only can be a time waster, it can lead to discontentment. When we compare someone’s “highlight reels” to our real life we often come up short. So it’s very important that we recognize what most people put out on social media represents only the best parts of their lives. It doesn’t tell the whole story.

Even if we do know someone who seems to do it all and do it well, it’s likely we are still not seeing the whole picture. So, let’s quit comparing and do what we know we need to do.

How do you overcome the lie that you have to do it all?