Most of us would agree that mothers are the most special people in the world. But how often do we tell our mothers that? Christmas? Mothers Day?
I would suggest that we don’t tell them often enough, and we usually don’t have the reasons at hand to tell them about the impact they have made in our lives.
Mothers are usually our first teachers, having a lifelong impact on our lives. Her lessons shape us, providing a solid foundation for our life.
Here are seven lessons that I have learnt from my mother.
Unconditional love.
Mothers have an all-encompassing love, that treats and cares for each child differently, but equally. I grew up in a house of three boys. Mum loved us all, and invested in our interests and activities. A mother has the ability to love her children, even when she is angry with them. To correct them, then wipe away the tears. Lessons I have taken and tried to apply with my own children.
Forgiveness.
As I reflect back on my childhood, I can sense that there were times I caused mum pain. Probably part of being a boy, in a household of boys. Mum always forgave, she always restored the relationship. I have taken this lesson as an adult, and spend considerable time working with people restoring their relationships. It is a lesson that most of us need to learn, but don’t know where we can learn it. Mum’s are the great teacher of this.
Family is most important.
Even with adult children, I have seen mum drop everything and travel across states to help one of her children. Regardless of what my mother’s day would bring her, she was home when we came home from school, with freshly baked cake, and a listening ear. She ensured that there was family time, from weekend drives and holidays, to games for us to play.
It’s okay to cry.
In leadership circles, it’s called emotional intelligence. In other circles, it’s called being in touch with our feminine side. Regardless of what you call it, mum gave us big tough boys permission to cry. Sometimes it would be over something that seemed so trivial now, but was so important to us at the time.
Get up again, after you fall down.
I watched her play sport, rough sport against women and men. I saw her get knocked down, get beaten, and I saw her get back up again and have another go. A ‘never say die’ attitude that kept her soldiering on, through life. We can apply this attitude in all aspects of our life.
Money doesn’t buy happiness.
There were many times in life where we didn’t have a lot of money, but we always had fun. Mum would build cubby house, we made musical instruments out of mum’s pots and pans (it might explain my current lack of musical talent,) we rode bikes and explored. We would do weekend family picnics, play sport, climb mountains and go camping. Mum ensured that we even had fun while working!
Act first / think later.
From a young age, I saw mum step up in emergency situations, act, then think about it later. Several times in times in my life I have witnessed people in life threatening situations, and moments later found myself in the midst rescuing them. Only, later to have people ask how did I know what to do. On reflection, I was only subconsciously following my mother’s example.
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Photo Credit: Getty Images