Ok. I’m about to show you something and I want you to take a good look at it. You ready? Here goes:
MOTHER
Now now. Don’t rush, take a good, long look…. There! Did you see it? No? Look again. No luck? Ok, fine, I’ll just tell you. There’s a ‘ME’ in there. Do you see it now? Ok, good. 🙂
For the longest time, I felt that if I took time for myself, that I would be short-changing my kids. After an afternoon spent at a Power of Moms Retreat, I realized that not only am I doing a disservice to myself with this archaic view, but I am also perpetuating these ideas with my kids.
It is not selfish at all to be joyful, passionate and fulfilled. In fact, I felt a sense of wonder that it’s taken me this long to figure out that I will actually be passing on a powerful legacy on to my children if I assert my right to be treated as an individual with dreams and needs and hopes and feelings. Won’t my girls grow up and crave this same fulfillment? Won’t they wish that I had modelled these values to them so that they, in turn, can then model them to their own children? And won’t my son need to encourage his wife to maintain her identity within their marriage? After all, what I teach them is what they learn! Duh!
What makes me really happy is the fact that my earlier post about being redeemed and restored ties in so beautifully with these new, enlightened thoughts making a home in my mind. I can almost feel the synapses firing up, building new pathways in my mind, pathways that I will strengthen from here on out.
My proverbial cup runneth over today. I am so grateful to be a daughter of God. I am so grateful that I know and feel His love. I am so grateful for every single woman who has influenced me for good throughout my life. I am so grateful for a testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ which enables me to press onward even though I fall short. I am so grateful… to be… Me.
Formulate and stamp indelibly in your mind a mental picture of yourself as succeeding. Hold this picture tenaciously and never permit it to fade. Your mind will seek to develop this picture.
~ Norman Vincent Peale
Well, go on. What are you waiting for? Find yourself. And if you can’t find yourself, create yourself.
Musings of a Daughter of God 