Why Sharing "Failure" Feelings is Important

Recently I've felt like a failure.

A failure in my business, a failure as a mum, daughter, friend, and

...even a dog owner.

A conversation with my husband about the jobs our friends from uni have now.

A reel I saw on Instagram of someone in my class running a successful coaching business that uses building prosthetic hands for amputees overseas as team building exercise

... held up against my disappointments, makes me feel anxious, sad, overwhelmed, and depressed all at the same time.

This morning, I jumped on a Zoom with other parent coaches. One shared her success over the past few years. I just felt more and more teary. Sad. How I used to be ahead of her. How come she's doing better than me... better opportunities, happier, even better hair and makeup.

And it's not just on the work front that I feel less than.

On the weekend, my husband was talking about legal cases which have demonstrated Meta and Google knowingly created addictive products.

While many of us have suspected this for a long time... this addiction proof upsets me.

I feel like a failure for not protecting my girls more than I have. The eldest has had social media since she was 14. The youngest doesn't have a social media account but has her work arounds and watches YouTube. Both had iPhones at ages younger than I wanted them to have them.

I feel shame that I haven't fully protected my kids from addictive devices and platforms that may affect their mental health.

Ashamed that I put so many hours and dollars into my career to not be further along.

But even though every urge in me right now wants to cross out the "failures"...

I'm sharing them with you.

Because I suspect I'm not alone in feeling this way.

I want you to know, on the days you struggle with feeling less than, or like you're a bad mum, dad, or helping professional... you're not alone.

It's easy to say what we see publicly isn't a person's private life. What's harder is to share the private.

But that's where the true support lies.

To know you're not alone, and there are people out there who really understand what you're going through and aren't judging you.

That's what this Parent Thinking Space content is for.

So you can feel less alone, less judged, and get the thinking space back to help you navigate the real challenges of parenting and working during the teen years.