When I was a kid, I was not so fond of the last week of the year. These days were when the entire house had to be cleaned. Every blanket, dish, window, and baseboard had to be cleaned—hours upon hours of nonstop cleaning. One year, I gathered the nerve to ask, why were we doing this? The reply was that if you enter the new year with a dirty house, your home will be messy all year. That answer didn’t make sense then, and it doesn’t make sense now. But for the longest time, I kept that tradition going anyway.

My house had to be spotless for the new year, no matter what. Then I had kids. I tried to keep up with all the schedules I had grown up with, but with my two, it just did not work. At first, I beat myself up about it. Then I sat and thought again about how ridiculous it is to kill myself to live up to some unspoken expectation.

I realized no one was coming to my house on January 1st or any other day of the year to inspect my work. They were coming to see me, not how clean my house was. Whenever I have company, I will tell them to watch their step because there will be toys on the floor. All this to say, don’t let someone else’s unrealistic expectations become your rules. Enjoy your life. Forge your path. Remember, you are a work in progress.

Happy New Year!