Before I start, I want to greet you a Happy and Prosperous New Year ahead! ✨ A new year has come and I am so excited to plot and plan for the coming days. During these times, most of us create New Year's Resolutions, some of us create a list of what not to do in 2019 and so on.

Being a mother means you have to take responsibility of raising a human being in this world. From the day they were born until they are grown ups already. It is a never-ending role we have to fulfill.

Reading some articles about being a mother makes me re-think about my purpose in this world.
Some says being a mother is sacrificing ones self to give the whole world to their children.

I do agree at some point, I love my son so much and I am willing to give the whole world to him.




But is that enough? Is it enough to lose ourselves in the process of making that perfect life we wanted to give our children?

My take? NO. 

DISCLAIMER: Not that I do not enjoy being a mother but I kept on thinking about my own personal dreams and goals too. I always envision myself being a mother and I am so blessed to have my son.

Given that we have different kinds of family set-up -- some of you have their significant others and some has none. As for me, I am a single mom. I struggle finding time to pursue my dreams because I am too busy working my ass off to provide for my son and contribute to my family as well.

I previously have a 9 to 5 work prior to working from home and juggling motherhood, career, my own dreams plus the expectation from the society is so stressful.

So how to find yourself beyond motherhood? 

1. Define Success on your own terms 💆

I remembered how I am so insecure of not having a degree. Insecure of not having a partner to raise Jas. Insecure of job titles. Now that I grew older and had approached my quarter life, I became wiser. Less sensitive and stronger. I have learned how to shrug off haters and just focus on my goals, my family and supportive friends. It takes time, sometimes a lot of time, but hang on to your dreams. We have to work hard, really, really hard to get to the success we want.

Never ever let the society define you, whatever you’re doing and most importantly YOUR SUCCESS. 

2. Socialize 👯

Believe it or not, finding your tribe or network of friends - online or in person, really helps me with my motherhood journey. Talking with other moms and having fun with some of our mom fails really eases my frustrations and mom guilt. I feel that I am not alone and that some of parents have the same struggles as mine too.

Surround yourself with people who understand what you are going through.
You can follow my Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/pinaymomwrites/. I post parenting memes there so we can all laugh from it and make parenting lighter and more fun. 😂

3. Learn New Skills ✍

Whether you have a 9 to 5 work, online job or if you are a stay at home mom, we should make time for developing or learning new skill, if we really want it. I know it is hard, given the household chores we still have to make but giving ourselves at least 30 minutes of our time to learn online makes a great difference since we are constantly learning new things and who knows- we can possibly discover where we are really good at.

not sponsored: I highly suggest the website Skillshare. This is an online learning community that has courses you can choose to enroll to. Whether it's logo design, calligraphy, photography and many more. Good thing is that it has a FREE plan so you are not required to purchase or subscribe to a plan.

4. Me time  | Self-care 💯

Making time for yourself is important. There is someone who looks up to us so we really need to take care of ourselves before we can take care of the little human beings who depend on us.

Never think that "me time" is a reward for doing great thing but consider it as an essential.

5. Re-fuel your passion ✅

Being a mother does not mean you have to give up your passion. Love photography? Take photos of your kids and your environment. Are you into Arts? Ask for your parents or your partner to look after the baby or the kids so you can attend an Art class.

Pursuing your passion at the same time excelling in motherhood is not being selfish. I am so sure that your kids will be happy and proud to have someone they love achieve their dreams.



Being a parent should not limit you on becoming who you wanted to be.
Always remember, You Can't Pour From An Empty Cup.
So learn new things, explore more and I hope you can find yourself again and live fully the life we have. ❤️️

5 years.. It has been 5 freakin' years since I became a mom. A single parent.