A Mother's Gift

Do you have someone in your life that you look up to when things are challenging or hard?  When you’re struggling, who do you turn to?  For me, that person has always been my Mom, and I am beyond grateful for her.  

My Mom is one of the strongest and most resilient women that I know.  Her life wasn’t easy growing up — she lost her father when she was two, she lost her brother who she was very close with to a brain tumor when she was 15 and he was 16, and she lost her own mother to ALS.  

She has experienced both abundance and very lean times as she and my father watched their business rise and then fall with the housing crash in the early 80s. When my Dad experienced a stroke that incapacitated his left side a year and a half ago, she became his caregiver and took over everything.

The one thing that has gotten her through it all?  Faith.  She has a tremendous amount of faith and trust that there is a bigger plan, and everything is going to work out okay.  Thankfully her faith is so big and strong, that she is always able to hold the belief that everything is going to work out okay for me too.

So when things were rough, I reached out to Mom — because Mom already knew that I would get through it.  Her faith and belief in me have always been unwavering, so I was able to borrow some of her faith when I was questioning myself and how I was going to get through the challenge.

As parents we do that for our children — Our kids look to us to figure out what to think and believe about themselves.  My Mom has always reflected back to me her belief that I’m strong.  She believes that with faith, I can handle whatever challenges life throws at me.

She supported me through my decision to move to California in my early 20s, where I had a lot of time alone as I struggled to fit in.  She supported me through both my children’s births and my kid’s early years — as I was a young working Mom — struggling with my own immense overwhelm, guilt, and anxiety.  She supported me through the ups and downs of parenting, owning my own business, and the fear of starting over to pursue the career of my dreams.

Through it all, Mom has been right by my side.  I’ve leaned on her so many times for her faith and belief in me that I’ve got this, that everything is working out for me, and that I will prevail.  She saw that in me and helped me see it for myself.

The best part is that she holds the faith and belief that it will all work out for her too.  If you were to see her today and ask how she is, her response is “blessed”.  My Mom focuses on her blessings and appreciates all of the good in her life, even amidst the struggles.  She discovered golf later in life and her weekly ladies' golf outings are the highlight of her week.  She loves to cook and is known for her pies with berries from her garden.  She hosts dinners regularly for friends of all ages and is known to have games on hand that she will play with children when families with littles come to visit.  Even with things as challenging as they have been, she still looks for blessings every day.

My Mom has gifted our family with a tremendous legacy of faith, love, and resilience.  She has been an amazing example of how to manage life’s challenges with strength and grace, and we have so much admiration and respect for her.

I’m so grateful that my sisters and I followed in Mom’s footsteps in strength and resilience and are now able to help return the gift that she gave us to help support her during the most challenging of times — and I hope and pray that I will be able to handle whatever challenges life has for me with the same grace so I can continue to pass the legacy onto my children. 

I’m also working on holding the same level of unwavering faith and belief in my own kids that my Mom has held for me all of these years. I want them to be able to turn to me at times in their lives when they need someone who believes in them more than they believe in themselves — Just like my Mom did for me.

Please know that I do empathize with the parents who didn’t have the same kind of relationship with their mother or may have lost their mother too early.  My heart goes out to you and is with you today, and I hope you can feel and receive the big hug that I’m sending your way.

If that was the case, I invite you (and everyone!) to consider — What if it was YOU that held that faith and belief in yourself, for yourself?  And when things were hard, you were able to look in the mirror and tell yourself I’ve got this, or I was made for this.  

So this Mother’s Day, consider leaning into the belief that you can handle whatever challenges you're faced with, and trust that everything is working out for you — and pass that legacy onto your kids. 

I hope you all have a wonderful Mother’s Day Weekend!

If you do need someone you can turn to, as a coach I hold the belief in what is possible for you and I help you have more peace in your home and life.  This month I am teaching how to stay calm on the toughest of days in the Confident Parenting Club.  Give yourself the gift of peace this Mother’s Day and get one month for free with the code PEACE.  Click here for more details.