Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Something has to give

I've decided that I wear too many hats. (Actually, I don't wear any hats, because I get hat head and frankly who wants that).

But figuratively speaking:

I have my mom hat.
I have my wife hat.
I have my daughter hat.
I have my sister hat.
I have my work hat.
I have my church hat.
I have my soccer hat.
I have my writing hat.

That's way too many. Since I can't give up my family, church or writing (still thinking about the work hat), I'm going to stop being so involved in soccer. I've been on the board as VP for ten years and I think it's time to focus that energy on making my writing hat bigger. Of course, no one knows this yet. You're the first. Hopefully it goes over well.

How about you do you have any hats you want to give up?

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was recording secretary of a board I just left. The meetings and recording were too much for me. I had to give something up to maintain some writing time.

Anne Gallagher said...

I thought you just did a post on how much you love soccer?

That's a tough decision and I don't envy you making it, but I'll bet it'll be a load off your shoulders.

Jessica Nelson said...

Wow, that's a huge decision. Can you still play without being on the board?
I think you're being wise.
I'm careful to never have too many hats in my closet. Heeheee! My couch potato hat is extremely important to me!

Misha Gerrick said...

My writer's hat is one I never want to give up.

Good luck with the board!

Kelly Lyman said...

Oh, this is so true! I did a post similar to this a few months back using Apps as an example! There is an "App" for everything it seems! I have no idea what hat I should give up, but I know it should be something b/c I'm stressed. Thanks for posting this- I definitely need to reconsider somethings in my life right now.

K. M. Walton said...

I do believe you forgot a slew of hats, dear woman. There are sub-hats that go underneath each of those hats. You cut your hat-self short!! E.g. chef hat, chauffeur hat, nurse hat, therapist hat, cleaner hat, laundress hat, etc......................

We working working-women-writers need a PhD in time management eh?

Carolyn V. said...

I can't wait to give up my student hat. One more year! =)

Stina said...

The cleaning toilet hat.

Too bad that one has to stay. ;)

Heidi Willis said...

Good for you!! It's hard to give up something you love, but time is so limited.

I'd like to give up my "gym" hat but my "body image" hat says I need to stick with it a little longer.

Sadly, I have no other hats I can give up without mutiny. Unless I gave up the writing hat. Then it would only be mutiny-ing.

Susan R. Mills said...

I don't necessarily want to give up any of my hats, but I think I need to wear some of them more than others.

Melissa Gill said...

Wow, I bet that was a tough decision. I've seen you write about how much you enjoy soccer. I hope you'll be able to just make your soccer hat a bit smaller. But I understand the need to write more.

Shannon O'Donnell said...

I gave up my coaching hat when I was pregnant with my second child. Still trying to figure out what else can go. :-)

Tamika: said...

I want to give up my work hat:) If my family could afford it, my desire is to write full time. But my prayer remains for God's will to have full reign in my life.

We'll see what He has to say:)

lotusgirl said...

Hoping with you. I know what you mean about all those hats.

Anonymous said...

It's an incredibly freeing thing to give up a hat, I think. And I'm always amazed by how I still keep pretty busy, too. ;)

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

I've given up my work hat... and it was a joyous day :)

Leslie C. Crapo said...

Just don't give up your sister hat... as for me I would love to give up some of my hats. I think they might be worn out.....

Hermana Maw said...

It is so hard to keep all the hats straight. I hope the transition to a smaller soccer hat goes well. Good luck on your writing. :)

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Anonymous said...

I'd love to give up my 'Watching TV hat'. Guess someone will have to wrestle that off my head!

BK Mattingly said...

I'd like to give up the needs to write a paper hat, the yes, you must go to class hat, and the sleep is a must hat. Too bad they're all kind of necessary at the moment. :) I hope your new hat arrangement works out well!

ali cross said...

Absolutely. I used to struggle with this more than I do now, but that's only because I had this same realization you're having now back in late winter of this year and since I've taken off and mostly hung up many of my hats, I'm managing much better. For me, it's pretty simple. My health, my family (which includes homeschooling my boys and making dinner, but not so much of anything else, lol) and my writing.

And what's more, my husband was in on this with me, so he too knows where my priorities lie. It's great to have his support.

Amazingly, there's still time for much of the other stuff; church, friends, the house, etc., but I no longer stress about them and that alone has eased my burdens a lot.

Good luck figuring out which hats to hang up Patti. You can do this!

Anonymous said...

Giving up any hats is not an easy thing to do. I really admire your courage and insight for making this difficult decision.


Carrie

Jessie Oliveros said...

So are you giving up soccer soccer? That's big.