Whether you have ever parented a child or not, you are a Mom.  There comes a time in every woman’s life when she discovers that she is the ultimate mother of her own body and soul.  It is during this beautiful discovery that she can shift from placing everyone else’s needs above her own to fully understand why that emergency oxygen mask must cover her own mouth first.  It’s true when they say we can’t give what we don’t have,  and the more we humbly and faithfully we love ourselves first, the more love we have to give the world.

I was given up at birth for adoption by a woman who carried me to term so gently and lovingly that I was born with no deficiencies, addictions, or disabilities.  How does a woman carry a baby like that for nine months and then give him/her away at birth?  That is a mother’s love.

Later I discovered my records had been misplaced or shuffled in with others at the agency, and now I have no way to discover the identity of my real mother to even thank her for that ultimate sacrifice and let her know things turned out well.  Meanwhile, I was raised by loving parents who adopted me immediately.  A woman unable to have children of her gave me all she knew and all her love until her death when I was 30.  That is a mother’s love.

Helping my husband to provide for his stepchildren and assist in raising them to the best of my ability taught me much about the other side of the experience.  While they already had a mother, I gave them the only kind of love I knew in whatever capacity they would allow me.   I may never know what if any impact I had on their lives, but I do believe I made some difference, good and bad, intentional and unintentional.  That is a mother’s love.

With my adopted mother gone and my stepchildren grown, I’m now a single 47 year old woman redesigning the next season in my life.  I look in the mirror and see the results of how I have parented my own self up to now.  I am met with a mixture of satisfaction and desire to improve, and a sense of peace in the love I have developed for myself of late.  Healing old wounds and forgiving (mostly myself) have really improved my self-esteem.  One day at a time I continue to encourage myself but in a gentler way than my warrior-take-charge attitude of the past.  That too is a mother’s love.

Happy Mother’s Day and remember to give that mother’s love to yourself first.

Namaste,

Sheryl Sitts, Chief Inspirational Officer

Journey of Possibilities