Elena has two children and is a creative blogger and graphics designer. Her world is full of lovely things to learn about, to do and to share. The creative books she makes available to people in her blog are fantastic. Elena’s catching cheerfulness and enthusiasm derives – among other things – from a daily quest for balance.
Read her advice and use her motto for your darkest moments.

1. Do not underestimate: your abilities – I have often found myself saying to myself that certain things can’t be done, that I can’t make it… but then my determination helps me try everything I want to. Sometimes it is clear that I am not perfect at everything, but I try. I try to learn new things for my graphics work, which is always changing. I try to be a good mom… this is how I discovered I had potential and interests I didn’t think I had. Now, after my second pregnancy, I have even discovered I have the potential to learn to love myself, and to be able to love my family even more.

2. Do not overestimate: having to do everything on your own. When my second child was born I thought I could do everything on my own and I would never need help, but then I discovered that every now and then it is good to ask others to do things we would like to do ourselves. Sometimes we too have to concentrate on our needs and our dreams.

3. If you need help: ask for it. Use words to express what you need, even if it is just a coffee. Nobody can enter your mind and understand what you need, not even the people who know you best. Silence and unspoken words breed misunderstandings. Have no fear to express yourself and ask for what you want.  If you need your husband to do something in the house, ask – you’ll discover he is not lazy, he simply doesn’t know what to do.

4. You won’t manage without: a moment of me-time. In the evening I need to have half an hour entirely on my own, during which I sort out what has happened during the day, I quietly drink a cup of herbal tea and listen to the silence in the house. When everybody is sleeping I write down my thoughts or read a book and the next morning I am ready for the warmth of my family’s hugs.

5. My motto for when I are desperate: obvious but true, every cloud has a silver lining.