What Does Thriving Actually Feel Like?

Hint: It’s Not What Instagram Shows You

If you search “thriving” on Instagram right now, here’s what you’ll find: a woman in matching linen, golden-hour light, green juice in hand, abs visible, children perfectly behaved in the background. And you’ll feel (even if just for a split second), like you are NOT thriving.

As the founder of Momgevity and a real mom myself: I want you to know, that’s not thriving. That’s a content strategy.

Thriving is a deeply personal, physiological, and emotional state that has almost nothing to do with aesthetics — and everything to do with how you feel when no one is watching.

“Thriving is when you wake up and your first feeling isn’t dread. It’s when your body feels like yours. It’s when you laugh easily, sleep decently, and feel like something — not everything — is going right.”

Momgevity members~

Thriving and vibing with Momgevity members in Palm Springs

So What Does Thriving Actually Feel Like?

Thriving comes and goes and I’m not gonna lie…it isn’t consistent. However, consistency is the goal as I remind myself and others of often so here are a few examples of what I think “thriving” feels like.

It feels like having enough energy to get through your day without counting down to bedtime by noon. I do remember those days. It was usually after school pick up and making it through dinner.

It feels like being present in a conversation (really present), not mentally composing your to-do list while someone is talking to you. Guilty as charged …usually my husband ha.

This ones my favorite, and I can honestly say I am thriving when I want to call a friend, not because I need to vent, but because I have something to share.

Here’s another good one. It feels like saying “no” to something and not replaying it for three days over and over in your head.

So actually, thriving doesn’t have to look like anything. It just has to feel like something, something that belongs to you. And something that makes you feel good about where you are right now.

Hiking for The Weekend in Wisconsin

Why We’ve Lost the Theme

We live in a culture that has outsourced the definition of “wellness” to metrics: steps, sleep scores, macros, follower counts. And for moms especially, thriving gets confused with output — a clean house, a packed schedule, a child who is excelling, a body that has “bounced back”.

For example, I just came back from a Tech Thrive Conference for women’s wellness in San Francisco and the first question asked was “how many of you have wearable devices”?

Again, guilty as charged, since I wear an Oura ring and it’s the first thing I check when I wake up in the morning. Turns out that almost everyone at the conference raised their hands and only a handful of people didn’t have a wearable device. Welcome to the future.

Tech Thrive Conference with Executive Coach Jennifer Rumack and Founder of Ruth, Valerie Chapman

But output is not thriving. Output is performance. And no one can sustain a performance indefinitely…especially moms. And why would we be expected to anyway? No, thriving is quieter. It accumulates in small moments. And the first step to experiencing it is defining it for yourself — not borrowing someone else’s definition.

This Month at Momgevity

All July, we’re exploring what thriving looks like across the full spectrum of motherhood. In your body. In the beautiful mess of daily life. In your relationships. And in our community.

We’re calling it “Thriving Looks Different” because it does. For every single one of us.

So this week, we want to hear from you. Comment in our community space Join our free Momgevity Community Network

And finish this sentence:

Thriving looks like ___________.

There are no wrong answers. Only your answers. And I want you to know they are perfect and we thank you for sharing. Look forward to hearing your answers!