You’ve heard the phrase, “It’s no use crying over spilled milk?” Well, yesterday, I spilled my entire greek salad on the floor of my van. And I didn’t even get to take one bite before the entire contents were dumped, and quickly inedible. I wanted to cry. I had just been in the grocery store and was starving. Chips and cookies called my name. Lemon cake (my favorite flavor) whispered sweet nothings in my ear, promising to love me back if I would only partake. But no! I quickly remembered my goal of health and weight loss and decided I’d rather honor those long-term goals rather than give in to short-term gratification.

I felt virtuous and I explained to the deli manager that I wanted something low-cal and healthful. “If you like feta cheese, the greek salad is delicious and it’s full of veggies.” Bingo! There was my solution.  I sauntered to the car, bursting with the pride of honoring my commitment to health. And then it happened. As I was driving, I  hit my brakes quickly. My virtuous meal turned into a virtual mess.

This was so not fair! I’d “done the right thing” and was now “supposed” to be rewarded! I immediately felt sorry for myself, annoyed, and put-upon. I briefly thought about “retaliating” and going through a fast food joint to ease my pain with onion rings. But whom would I be retaliating against? Myself? Luckily, that choice seemed ludicrous.

The 15 minutes it took to drive home gave me the space to calm down and choose another perspective (notice that my first perspective was to feel sorry for myself and wolf down greasy food!). Once home, I started to laugh. I realized that life happens: not a stunningly complex realization, but apparently one I needed to still learn. As I laughed at how close I came to giving in and eating junk food all because life didn’t go my way in that moment, I realized that, in the moment I felt my feelings and gave myself space to calm down and act (rather than react), I won. I won out over feeling victimized, over whiny self-talk, over negative events that happen that I don’t like.

It was then, in my laughter, that I realized that my days of being a mompreneur are filled with moments that require me to “re-boot” myself and keep going. Isn’t motherhood like that, too? Life is like that. There are days when my kids need me as much as my business does, and there just isn’t time to do it all. There are days when my clients’ internet businesses are thriving and their home lives are not, AND they need help right away. And, there are times when my computer crashes and it feels like my whole business will crash, too, if the dang thing isn’t up and running soon.

And so it is with us mompreneurs. There will always be those “spilled greek salad days,” when we feel we’ve done everything right, and yet it all seems to be going wrong. Allowing ourselves a little tantrum isn’t necessarily a bad thing–especially when it just involves us tantrumming with ourselves! Just know that on those days when:

*the kids are home sick and you need to lead a huge teleseminar and have two coaching clients

*you write an amazing blog post only to find it disappear into thin air

*your child refuses to go to school and you have to be on a call in 30 minutes

…you are not alone. We all have those days, those “spilled greek salad days.” But know this. You also can choose to feel your feelings and then, reboot. While I’ve got  ideas on how to handle the parenting/family problems that arise in a mompreneur’s life, I know that this skill of rebooting and choosing my response trumps all others.

As mom entrepreneurs, we reboot on a daily, sometimes hourly basis. Give yourself some credit for already doing it, and don’t underestimate this skill! That person who just gave you the finger on the freeway apparently needs to learn it!