We love our children to pieces, really. And we love taking care of them, all night and all day, no doubt. Yet spending most of our waking hours dealing with tiny humans and mundane tasks also presents a challenge. There are so many aspects of our personalities that are not tapped into, and we can feel a real void, which we desperately want to fill.

In a letter written to a woman blessed with many talents and an exceptional amount of energy, the Rebbe wrote that her primary responsibility was taking care of her family. However, he also encouraged her to find a part-time job or outlet so that she could exercise her own abilities. In this way, she could both devote herself to her family, as well as curb, in the Rebbe’s words, her “self-pity.”

If her surplus of spiritedness was not channeled, then, the Rebbe wrote, it was likely to “explode” or find negative forms of expression.

Sometimes, in order to continue being the best mothers we can be, we need to find time to nurture that inner spark of passion. And only we can look inside and figure out what really makes us tick.

Thoughtstream: Today, I will find a healthy outlet for my creative side.

(Adapted from Or Habayit, vol. 1, p. 168, cited from Mei’Otzar Hamelech, p. 320.)