Hey there! I’m Mikala—a family doctor, wife, mother of 5, well-being advocate, and author of the books Ordinary on Purpose and Everything I Wish I Could Tell You About Midlife. Each month my writing reaches millions of women, but I am thrilled to be connecting with YOU. I’m truly grateful to have you here!
You call a plumber when you have a leak in your house. You visit a salon to have your hair dyed and cut (and you would NEVER see a different stylist!). You have your HVAC maintained and repaired by an HVAC specialist. You take your car to a mechanic you trust. And I know you’re not seeing just anyone on the street to have your teeth cleaned—you see a dental hygienist!
None of it feels shiny! And it certainly isn’t perfect, but it IS beautiful. Life happens in the ordinary after all!
You should get up early every morning to pray and read and do morning yoga and somehow be thinner, prettier, healthier, younger, and more self-confident while volunteering, working outside your perfectly organized home, and putting your marriage first all while spending more one-on-one time with each child…whew. “The Shoulds” have got to go!
It’s sobering to know that before IV antibiotics were widely available, my daughter’s particular diagnosis had a blindness rate of 20% and with certain complications, a mortality rate >40%.
Turns out our health isn’t all or none. We don’t have to do everything to be healthy. And we can make a lot of progress toward feeling well.ish if we simply start!
Ask your family what they love most and give yourself the gift of a beautiful Christmas season by doing just the few things they feel matter most.
I remember that I am not wired to carry the weight of the world. It isn’t fair.
“Please, God. Please. Can You please make it abundantly clear You are here?” And maybe it sounds crazy…but He did.
This is how I want to live the rest of my days—listening to my body. Moving her and feeding her and caring for her. Stopping whenever I need a rest. Noticing other people and flowers and blue skies and sunshine and dogs. Simply marveling at the world.
THIS it seems, is life. And ever-so-slowly I am beginning to understand that contentment is simply our best attempt at the beautiful ordinary living of it.
And showing up to this mess and noise through exhaustion (and sometimes tears) is part of raising a beautiful family!!
Your kids need a mom who laughs and cries and yells and dances and forgives and prays and hugs and loves. And LIVES!!
It is perfectly okay to admit this change is hard on my momma heart. It’s okay that it feels necessary to grieve.
None of it feels shiny! And it certainly isn’t perfect, but it IS beautiful.
He’s practically grown. And yet, he’s the same boy I’ve always known.
This is the beautiful, bittersweet ache of motherhood—every day we hold on and we let go. And our hearts simply grow.
That little boy you always knew is right there…and somehow this beautiful new person is emerging too.
To me, that’s where we really LIVE this lovely little thing called life.
