Let me not be the first to say how mothers are the best. Not just mothers, but those who play the role of a mother in our lives. This can range from your aunt, to your grandmother, a teacher, or your dad. The truth is that the role of a mother is not easy. At all! I had a conversation with my mom the other day, and I told her how grateful I was with the mother she was. She made me a priority in her early 20s. She gave up her freedom in order to raise four amazing daughters. For that, there is no measurable gift in the world for my mom or any other person’s mom. These people are our rock. They never show us their weak side, and never allow us to see them cry. For that, I am extremely thankful.
Mothers, grandmothers, aunts, dads, and guardians, whoever is your mom taught us very valuable lessons. Here are a few they taught us.
1. To value ourselves.
This world is cruel, and our mothers knew that before us. Before showing us how cruel the real world can be, they showed us how to be ourselves. They let us use our own imagination and enabled us to create whatever we wanted, whether it was mud pies in the backyard or helping cook the night’s dinner. Even when we did something silly, they made us feel confident in our own skin.
2. Who was a bad friend before we even knew.
We all have experienced this. You tell your mom about a new friend you made, and between all the stories you tell her, she tells you not to trust that person. Sometimes you trust her opinion, other times you chose to figure it out yourself. Let’s be honest, though, she was right.
3. The importance of forgiving.
I have to admit, I am still pretty bad at this. My mom has taught me over the years that holding a grudge damages your spirit more than it heals it. Moments where I felt that I was incapable of being forgiven because I hurt her, she swallowed all her pride and gave me another chance. She is the only person who has given me more second chances than anybody else in this world.
4. To be strong.
This is hard. Some days it is extremely hard to carry myself because things that I have no control over fall apart. When I feel weak, I think about all the times my mother gave up. None. She never has, and the thing is that she never lets me see her weak. She is my rock, and when I am hopeless, she gives me newfound hope.
5. To listen.
When we were young, we were all horrible at this. It could be anything from taking a break after eating before swimming or washing our hands before we eat. These were our baby steps to listening. Not only that, but whenever we had a hard day or the best day, our mothers always wanted to hear about it.
6. To love and respect.
This is the most difficult to write about because our parents just teach us the importance of loving and respecting each other without an effort. They do it with the smallest actions, like tying our shoes when we were small or texting us “I love you.” They think about you no matter what. You are their first priority and always will be.
7. To be persistent.
They are the only people who never give up on us. They believe we have a flame inside of us that can change the world for the better. They know we can achieve anything we set our mind to as long as we never give up on ourselves.
8. To be loyal.
Not only to be loyal to people you care about, but to also be loyal to yourself. They hate to see us lying. They always have, even if it was as little as saying that we ate our vegetables. They wanted the truth no matter how silly or hurtful it was or is.
9. To be humble.
There are countless times where my mom has reminded me to keep my feet on the ground. When she notices me slipping off, she reminds me of who I am. She is not shy to put me in my place. However, I would rather have a mom teach me to be humble than having a mom that let me walk all over her.
10. To be a great parent.
This is so important. Even though I have some long ways to go before I even have a child, I can only hope that I will be half as good as my mom. She raised four beautiful girls, and I really don’t know why we turned to be so great. I always tell my mom that I am scared that my children won’t turn out that great, but hopefully with all the lessons she has taught me and continues to teach me, they’ll be great.
Happy Mother’s Day!
