Mother's Resilience
Mothers are the most resilient creatures in the world. Your body, mind, and identity go through an entire metamorphasis to bring life into the world and into your home. That transfiguration occurs over and over again through the life-cycle of motherhood. You give more than you know. You take on more than you think you can handle. You spend a considerable amount of time thinking, planning, coaxing, negotiating, affirming, and preparing. You provide it all with very little in return.
We have to wonder, how do we do it?
Resilience.
Resilience is a word that conveys that no matter how hard things get or how low we go, we can always rise again. Resilience has nothing to do with timing. We can't press a resilience button and magically be okay and put back together, like others may expect. We can't perform resilience. Resilience has everything to do with taking your time and embodying your true self.
Taking your time looks like giving yourself permission to feel your feelings. It is giving yourself space to breathe when you are overwhelmed. It is saying "no" when saying "yes" feels more comfortable and automatic.
Taking your time means that you chew your food enjoyably, even if your kids are finished with their meal. It means asking others to wait for you instead of always needing to be the first one ready. It means you take in fresh air and hold onto your cup of hot coffee a little longer.
Yes a day or week away sounds lovely, and I encourage it if that is what you truly need. I invite you, though, to notice where you can really take your time this Mother's Day.
Many authentic actions of resilience are not grand gestures, nor do they present as bestowed gifts from others. Resilience comes from deep down in yourself. You know, the part of you that is all-courageous, all-knowing, and grounded in your truth. Resilience manifests when you are real with yourself, your needs, and your circumstances.
To know yourself is to know resilience.
Tomorrow, celebrate the beauty of unique resilience in you. Slow down, take your time.