Men are not immune from stress; they just don't wear it like a badge of honor like some of us women.

Ouch. I hurt myself a little with that one.

But, I'll tell you this -- self-awareness is king when it comes to trying to grow as a person and in your relationships.

I'm well aware that this may not be a popular opinion, especially amongst women.

Still, I'm not ashamed to admit that I, occasionally (okay, frequently) toot my own horn for surpassing challenges, usually with the kids in tow, in such a way that we all make it to the other side of the obstacle in one-piece and still happy-ish.

It's deserving of praise and even if no one else finds it laudable, I, myself, am proud of the fact that at the end of each worry-filled day I'm still

standing,
smiling (when I'm not crying),
making breakfast,
packing lunches,
transporting kids,
cleaning,
trying to build a career,
and loving the people in my life with the energy I have left,
with the hope that I've left each them feeling seen enough to go out into the world and see and love others.

You see, owning your journey and doing it LOUDLY, it's nothing to apologize for.

You want to complain a little because releasing your whines allows you to come to peace with the crazy flippin' rollercoaster that is life with kids, a spouse, a job, friends, values, and bills? Go ahead.

Because guess what? You're getting it done.

Sure, us gals may be a slave to expectations -- those we have for ourselves and those society has established for us -- but we regularly exceed them.

And, more often than not, even our accidental or purposeful falling-short of those expectations is us taking stand against all that is unrealistic, unjust and just plain ridiculous; it's us saying "I'm doing me the best I can and take it or leave it, it's what you're gonna get."

Then, there are men, like my husband, who have the uncanny ability to flip off their anxieties, and pretty stealthily, successfully and contently only give a damn about meeting their own expectations, while not so surprisingly exceeding others’ in the process.

As I said, men are not immune from stress; it's just that they don't wear it like a badge of honor like some of us women.

But do you know what some good men do wear like a badge of honor?

Their wives.

Their hardworking, self-improving, barrier-breaking, persistent, anxiety-prone, but brave as hell wives.

Men are not immune from stress, and I'd like to suggest that's partly thanks to their wives who bust their butt trying to keep a true-to-life handle on theirs.