Mothering
On Being a Mother:
Love. Heartbreak. Sacrifice. Perseverance. Acceptance. Work. Hope. Disappointment. Holding on. Letting go. Speaking up. Staying silent. Waiting. Watching. Explaining. Modeling. Feeding. Healing. Advocating. Worrying. Joy. Monotony. Comforting. Sorrow. Pushing. Excitement. Pride. Learning. Growing. Changing. Heartbreak. Advising. Coaching. Teaching. Celebrating. Pride.
On Sunday we celebrate Mother’s Day. It is a very small way to recognize the enormous, essential, and all consuming work that it is to raise up a human being.
Motherhood has taught me more about myself than any other experience I have had. It took many years, and many lessons for me to understand why it often felt so personally challenging. It doesn’t matter that my children are now in their mid 20’s - they are still providing me with opportunities to grow, and I imagine they always will.
Many of us want to make up for what we had, and what we did not have. For what our mother’s did, or did not do. For who our mother’s were and who we wished they would be. It is an impossible situation that both society and our own minds put us into. What I know for sure is that all the mothers that I have ever known strive to do and be their best for their children. We learn along the way, course correct and shift as needed as life batters us and our children about.
I look at my grown children and I am so proud of them. The adults they have become reflect the influences of so many genetic, temperamental and environmental factors. But, as their mother, I know I get at least some of the credit for the type of people they have become, and that is a valuable reward.
Shout out to all the mothers. May you feel loved and blessed today.
