Mother’s Day 2020 just drifted into that gentle night of the past. How was it? Were you celebrating someone, or receiving the celebration, or both? While there is nothing wrong with a good old fashioned party, let’s look a bit closer about what Mother’s Day could really offer us.
Let’s start with all the mothers out there celebrating.
1. Be an attitude, not a day.
Mothers offer up their lives to become caretakers for their families. That’s a huge commitment. It involves sacrifice, opportunity costs, and the like. Are you using this day to dwell on that aspect? Are you refusing to clean anything, or lift a finger? I often detect latent anger simmering beneath mom’s attitude, and I’m clearly part of this problem. There have been many unloading of dishwasher-frustration sessions that had more to do with myself and my own resentment than a desire for emptying. The truth of the matter is, mothers, you control how your family feels.
Your anger, resentment, frustration is like one of those luminal-blood tests they do on true crime shows. Turn on the ultraviolet and see where that crappy attitude has rubbed off. Don’t use mother’s day to lord it over your family that you do “everything” around here. Live EVERY DAY grateful for what you have. Use EVERY MOMENT to bring good vibration into your home. Hard? Yes, of course it is. Anytime you put the ego aside, it will be very difficult. But something strange happens when you place God first, people begin to notice, i.e. your family. Suddenly, every day begins to feel like “mother’s day” a celebration of all you’ve sacrificed–and for everything you are contributing.
Are you a son/daughter? Then here’s a role-reversal for you.
1. Show gratitude, not attitude.
I FEARED mother’s day growing up. I think I knew deep down mom was going to be expecting a big effort on my part, and I think I knew I had already failed her. Not only on the day itself, which is loaded enough, but in how I was treating her. It’s easy to gang up on mom, place all of the home failings on her shoulders, and expect her to clean up every mess. It’s far easy to dump all our emotional problems on her. To call her up after a bad day and just talk and talk. That’s what mom’s are for, right? Or maybe you’re estranged from your mother, and her toxicity has taken you years to recover from. Both scenarios place you in an excellent opportunity to work on those shadow parts of yourself, the ugly parts that the Spirit nudges you to work on. The truth is, mom is not your built-in therapist, fashion consultant or punching bag. She’s her own person, fully formed and with her own God-given destiny and purpose. The sooner you divorce your emotional needs from her and being to grow in Christ, the better. Again, by focusing on yourself, you influence others. Imagine you calling your mother and asking HER about HER day. A reciprocal relationship, what a concept!
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It may seem like I’m being harsh but be assured I’ve been on both sides of this equation. The sooner you drop the labels, “mom”, “parent” etc. is when you realize you are a child of God. Your soul has no name, no dishwasher responsibilities, no dinner requests. You weren’t put here to grumble about the lack of a Mother’s Day card, or the lackluster upbringing you blame on your own mother. You are none of those things. You are a divine being, a treasure that God loved so much, He has given the world to you. What will you do with it?
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