King of the Jungle.

"So, I won't be seeing you for awhile now", I said while sitting up and pulling my platinum hair into a ponytail.
"Oh, really?"  he said with one eyebrow raised.
"Yup.  I've gotta head back home.  Gotta get back to work. I've got a lot to do, and 2 bosses that hold me to the grind everyday."  
I went to stand up, but he grabbed my hand and pulled me back towards him.  My hair elastic went flying and my hair fell onto his face just as he kissed me. 
"You're not leaving just yet", he said with a devious smile as he pulled me even closer.


Who was I to argue?




Later on that day, I found myself at the grocery store trying to decide which GoldFish crackers the girls would want for their snacks.  Cheddar or Rainbow Cheddar?  Rainbow.  Definitely rainbow.

The snacks reminded me of Lola's upcoming recital at school.  I leaned over my grocery cart, pulled out my iPhone and added the recital to my 'events'.

I then zoned out for what seemed like an eternity to think about my delicious weekend.  I couldn't wipe the stupid grin off my face.  But reality set in yet again when my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a Facebook message coming through.

Hey, did you get a call from HR yet?  I handed in your resume.  They like your credentials.

Sweet!  

My girlfriend, who was also an old co-worker of mine, was trying to hook me up with a job at her company. This was awesome news.  After months and months of searching for a job, there was finally some action.  I then added to my 'Things to do list':  pull out old suits and have them dry-cleaned for possible interview.

I threw my iPhone back into my purse and continued up and down the grocery aisles picking out snacks, and thinking up recipes to hide as many fruits and veggies in my kids' meals as possible.

On my drive home, I planned and prioritized the rest of my week while Welcome to the Jungle blared on the car stereo.  I don't know about you, but I really do my best thinking to super loud rock music that makes my ears bleed.


Ok......yoga, court date, my sister's birthday, play-dates, finish cover letters, send cover letters, pay bills, clean house, put items for sale on Kijiji, drop off books at library ..... what else? What else?  I know I'm forgetting, like 10 things.  

And then it suddenly dawned on me how many things I had going on!  I knew I was busy but..... wow.

And not only did I have a lot going on, but with each role, I had to wear a different hat......or rather, outfit.  I went from grocery shopping in a track suit, to yoga in Lulelemons, to playdates in jeans, to clubbing in studded dresses and finally to my delicious weekend in..............well, you get the point, right? 


On any given day, I had my "list" of things to do, and I just ticked the completed items off one by one, never really giving my agenda much thought.  But now having realized how many different roles I play in any given week, suddenly I felt a little over-whelmed.

As Axl Rose screamed the lyrics to Guns 'N Roses most famous song, I wondered how I would be able to handle all of this?  Suddenly I felt like I was in my own jungle.

Was I strong enough to handle it?  Or was Axl right?  Would this jungle bring me to my knees? 


I very often speak to single moms who feel the same stress.  The pressure to be everything to their kids, and also find time to do things for themselves is very consuming.  Not only do we want to do it all, but we want to be absolutely fabulous while doing it.

This jungle, aka: our lives, had the potential to be a dark and scary place, filled with obstacles, foreign land, poisonous creatures and animals ready to pounce and rip you to shreds.  With everything I've been through in the past 2 years, I feel like I haven't stopped running through this jungle .....wearing red lipstick, a sweatshirt over my studded dress, yoga pants and stilettos.  Have you ever tried to run through a jungle in high heels?  Well, speaking from experience, it's not easy.

But for some reason, even with my 4-inch heels slowing me down, no one has ripped me apart?  Or even caught me?  And no one has even come close to hurting me, or bringing me down.  In fact, I no longer feel like the weak and gangly gazelle running from the giant predators that scare me.  

I have somehow been transformed into someone....or something else.  Into another animal that has much more courage and strength that I've ever known possible.  It's almost like I've been genetically modified?  And instead of running away from the other animals and other challenges in the jungle, I am running towards them, with great fierce and vigor.

And suddenly it dawns on me, that there may just be another reason why my nick-name is Leo.  

Sometimes it takes a real disturbance in your jungle to realize that you just might have the same qualities and strength....... of a king.  

And you can play all those different roles, and be whoever you want to be, because this jungle, even with all it's perils and threats, is beautiful and full of opportunity.


So Axl, although I love you immensely, and your hit song will always have me belting out your lyrics wherever I am, I'm sorry to say.....but you got it wrong baby.

Leo's got this.




I finally got home and unpacked all of the groceries.  After attempting to get my hair up into that ponytail this morning, I finally succeeded, 6 hours later .......pulling my ridiculous blonde lioness mane off my face.  

And I took on my next role of the day.
 

This jungle wasn't gonna clean itself.