Why I Don’t Take Things Too Seriously and Neither Should You: Dancing Through Life’s Chaos

Life’s too short, so laugh it off.

It took me a long time to retrain my mind into not taking things too personally. When somebody says something, treats us a certain way, or does things that feel personal, I really hone in on remembering that people’s actions are a response to their own feelings. We react and respond based on our emotions. Anything someone says or does towards you is a projection of their emotions- so why take that personally? Give them the space to feel and move the hell on.

Taking things too seriously only exhausts yourself. Don’t let anyone or anything control your emotions that much, y’all—you’ll miss out on so much by holding onto those feelings (especially your kids, they don’t even know what they’re saying half the time!). And my God, the overthinking. Quit it. It’s exhaustingggggg. Some shit is just meant to be laughed about and moved on from. As a mom, wife, business owner, former teacher, and someone still learning life, I could’ve lost my shit plenty of times. But here have been my best takeaways in recognizing when my emotions are being held onto, how I cope with them, and how I keep things moving in a calm, sensible, don’t give a fuck, kind of way.

Recognizing Overwhelm

Identifying Signs of Overwhelm: When I’m overwhelmed with emotions and to-do lists, I avoid everything and become super unproductive. Losing control and not knowing where to begin is frustrating. Do you relate? The only way to pull myself out is to acknowledge it, validate my feelings, and remind myself I’ve gotten through this before. The ebb and flow of emotions are batshit crazy, and I feel this often while balancing my life.

Let me paint you a picture: it’s a Monday morning, and I’m staring at a to-do list that’s longer than a Target receipt. The kids are arguing over breakfast, my phone is buzzing with business notifications, somebody pissed me off the day before, and there’s a pile of laundry threatening to take over the living room. In these moments, I can feel the panic rising. My instinct is to shut down, avoid it all, and maybe even have a good cry in the shower. But then I remind myself that I’ve been here before, and I’ll get through it again. I take a deep breath, acknowledge that it’s okay to feel overwhelmed, and then I tackle one thing at a time (and on those days, it may only end up being ONE thing, period). And that’s OKAY. I can pick up the slack a day my energy and patience is a bit higher.

Managing my life in detail : I’ve talked about this on my blog. For a deeper dive into how I manage and balance everything, check out this post: From Working Mom to Full-Time Business Owner: Navigating the Beautiful Chaos of Motherhood and Entrepreneurship.

I’ve found that time-batching tasks into my calendar is the best way to regain productivity and some sense of control. Imagine dedicating an entire morning to business calls without interruptions or setting aside an afternoon just for creative work. It helps me stay focused and reduces that overwhelming feeling of not knowing where to start. Carving out this time and STICKING to it – does wonders for my mental/physical health and it benefits my children too.

Humor as a Coping Mechanism

The Power of Laughing it off : Laughter has psychological benefits. It stimulates many organs, enhances oxygen intake, stimulates your heart, lungs, and muscles, and increases endorphins. It activates and relieves your stress response. If you’ve spent time with me personally, you know I am all about cracking jokes left and right and laughing my ass off. It’s truly the best way to spend my time.

Finding the Funny: When my kids do something that really grinds my gears, I stop and ask if it’s worth it. Sometimes kids do things that are so ridiculous the only reaction is to laugh. We have so many “WTF” moments as parents that if we didn’t laugh, we’d lose touch with reality and our patience would be out the window.

One of my favorite things to do to keep my cool with the kids is to sing-narrate whatever I’m doing. Don’t ask me why, how it started, how I do it. I have no answer other than I sing, terribly. It makes the kids laugh, Phil makes fun of me, and I can’t help but laugh too. It keeps me calm during chaotic moments no matter how absolutely ridiculous I sound. And probably look.

When in Doubt, Dance it Out: The Importance of Movement

Movement and Mental Health: Moving around gets your endorphins going. It sounds simple and duh, but as adults (and parents), we often forget to do it. We do it for the sake of our kids energy, but forget to do it for ourselves. Put some music on, clean the house, and dance while you’re doing it. Moving your body when your brain says no is a different level of mental strength. We often have dance parties with our kids. Our kids love it, and it’s become a nighttime favorite right before bed (parent life hack, by the way). By bedtime, everyone is in high spirits, and the kids go to bed with smiles on their faces.

Dancing Through Difficulties: Dancing or moving your body can be a therapeutic response to stress. After a particularly tough day, I love blasting our favorite songs on the record player and just letting loose with the kids. The movement, the music, and the laughter help shake off the stress and reset my mindset. It’s like hitting a reset button for your emotions.

Perspective Shifting: Learning Not to Sweat the Small Stuff

When it has come to dealing with adult emotions, adult problems, everything NOT kids, I have really leaned into a perspective shift. Through years of therapy, I have really worked on retraining my mind in order to not let me emotions get the best of me- to acknowledge that people project and to keep my reactions minimal. Am I perfect? Certainly not. But boy- has the retraining helped me more times than I could count.

Instead of looking for every excuse in the book, a scapegoat, and constantly focusing on what someone else said, did, or how a situation made you feel, bring your thoughts back to you. Bring everything about the situation back to what YOU can control. How you respond to life kicking your ass is up to you. What can you do better next time? How can you avoid it happening again? How can you move past the feelings XYZ brought you? In the moment, take your accountability, laugh at your reaction, give yourself grace, and then reflect. It’s about taking a photo from a different perspective and adding colors that weren’t present before. Simply put—when life gets too serious, add a filter and change the point of view.

Mindset Shift: Writing out my thoughts helps a ton- reflection is everything. But sometimes in the heat of a high intense moment, there isn’t a moment to breathe and work through things. And in those moments that I have shown lesser control of my emotions, I don’t beat myself up for it. Setbacks are opportunities for growth. Any time you choose to react is a chance at retraining and relearning.

Think about the last time something didn’t go as planned. Maybe a project at work hit a snag, or the kids were acting up. Instead of letting it ruin your day, try to see it from a different angle. What lesson can you learn? How can you grow from this experience? I remember a day when everything seemed to go wrong, from spilling coffee the literal second I took it off the tray to missing a crucial meeting. Instead of spiraling, I laughed it off, reminded myself that it wasn’t the end of the world, and figured out how to avoid those mishaps in the future.

Building a Supportive Community

Your circle is there to uplift you when life feels shitty or parenting is overwhelming. Tell your friends you’re feeling down and watch them show up for you. My husband supports me, and we work as a team. Sometimes, we each take a separate break to sneak away from the kids when it hits peak fucking crazy and take 20 minutes alone to get our heads back on straight. It DOES wonders for the soul (those kids can be overwhelming A.F.!). Communicate your overwhelming times with friends, family, and especially your significant other.

The Art of Not Taking Everything Seriously

The more you practice becoming unbothered when life throws shit your way, the stronger you become, and life feels like it took one giant exhale. Get up, get moving, make a joke, or sing about it. To get your sanity back, sometimes that means laughing at the problems life is throwing at you.

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