I have to say that I had a Mom that was unlike anyother mother I have ever met.
She was way before her time, and so misunderstood. She had me when she was 18 after being married for one year. She had been brought up to be a proper Southern Lady, yet lived in the tumultuous 60's that began to challenge everything she knew.
Fortunately she gleaned much from her parents, and took to heart her own life experiences and diligently shared them with me. Below are a few of the things that my Mother taught me.
She taught me to be brave.
She taught me to trust my instincts.
She taught me to believe in myself, and the God given talents that I had been given.
She taught me that my greatest job in life was to at all times possess integrity.
She taught me that if I did make a mistake to admit it and go on. Not to try to cover it up. Things covered up stay moist and fester, things uncovered dry up and blow away.
She taught me do my very best at whatever I did.
She taught me that mediocrity was not an option.
She taught me that the things that people don't want to talk about are always the most interesting and usually the most important.
She taught me it was always better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission. Begging for forgiveness, meant that I had tried to do something and failed. Asking for permission meant I was second guessing myself and if I had to do that then the internal answer should always be NO!
She taught me that you don't have to be rich to be clean.
She taught me that to have a beautiful home was stimulating to your mind and to that of your family.
She taught me to surround myself with beautiful things even if it is simply a dandelion flower in a simple clear glass. It is good for the soul and makes you appreciate the littlest things.
She taught me that less really is more. As it leaves room for the really important and beautiful.
She taught me to find a partner who made me laugh, who made me smile and who loved me more than any other woman he had ever known. No matter what he looked like, no matter what he did for a living (as long as he was of honest means and integrity) that nothing matters more in a relationship than complete devotion and joy.
She taught me to love deeply with complete abandon.
She taught me to tell my family and friends how much they mean to me as often as possible.
She taught me to never be satisfied with all that I know.
She taught me to pursue new things each and every day.
She taught me to develop a broad vocabulary, so that I would always be able to effectively communicate my thoughts.
She taught me constantly question authority, because we can't trust someone just because they hold a certain title.
She taught me to ask as many questions as it takes to come to full understanding of any situation.
She taught me that stupid people always think every one else is stupid.
She taught me that while I may have many friends throughout my life, that my standards of loyalty would be so high that at the end of my life I would be able to count my true friends on the fingers of one hand.
She taught me to live my life like it was going be printed on the front page of the New York Times tomorrow and if I could live with that headline then I was alright.
She taught me that a mothers love is unconditional, just like Gods and that the day that she dies, you better know who you are and be good with it because there would never be another person on the face of the earth who loved you like she did.
I lost my Mom in 1986. She was 42 years old. She had a congenital heart defect which I apparently have inhereted from her. When I found her lying in her apartment I knew in an instant what she had said was true. I felt the void of that mothers love it was gone with her last breathe.
I married the man who made me happy and made me laugh and still does to this day.
I have taught my children all that my mother taught me, and I pray that they engrave it in their hearts as I have. Not all the lessons are easy, not all the lessons make you popular, but all of the lessons leave me with the ability to lay my head down every night and know that I have lived my life to it's fullest. That I have done everything that I know to do to make my world and my surroundings the very best that it can be, with the resources that I have available to me.
This being Mothers Day weekend take the time to remember the things your Mother taught you, and if you still have her thank her for these timeless lessons.
I would love to hear from you the things that your Mother taught you
1 comment:
I read your post on Mother's Day and have been thinking since then about the things my mother taught me.The first were negative -- like how to withdraw and withhold, how to be depressed and addicted,how to be resentful and bitter. Then one day last week I realized my mother, a true southerner, taught me how to say thank you, please, yes ma'am and no sir. I guess she taught me how to be polite. That's something. And I'm grateful for that. I miss my mother and the connection we could have had if she had been available rather than alcoholic. Love ya, mom, wherever you are.
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