A Mother's Perspective
May 12, 2019So this is only my second year I have been able to celebrate Mother’s Day; all thanks to my first-born son William. Before… I would say that I “honored” Mother’s Day. I would call or text my own mother to tell her “Happy Mother’s Day!” and probably write a little sappy post on social media to “honor” her and her sacrifices for me. Now I put the word honor in quotations, because I can already see now that I really didn’t have the full perspective to really appreciate that day. I appreciated my mother, mother-in-law, and all those other mother-like figures in my life…. But I didn’t have the full-picture of what it was to be a “mother”.
I get it now.
I get the endless discomfort of the 9 months of pregnancy (which is 9 months AFTER you find out your pregnant… *mind blown*). I get the endless hours of sleepless nights AND days to care for your newborn child which only roll into periodically sleep-filled nights after they turn one, if you’re lucky… the sacrificing of hours to entertain, and help grow your child, while keeping them relatively safe (sometimes they have to learn the hard way that standing on the rocking chair is a bad idea), and to wake up when they cry at 3am because they have a fever and don’t feel good… so you bring them in bed with you to snuggle, even though that means that YOU will not have a good night’s sleep on the remaining 6-inches granted to YOU on your king size bed.
I get it now.
And now I can say I truly CELEBRATE Mother’s Day, and try my best to honor it and to respect it for everything my own mother has provided to me that has been unrecognized for so many years, but also all the other mother’s who give and sacrifice without recognition.
Celebrating Mother’s Day is kinda like taking on the management for your land on your own. Maybe like me, before you became a mother, you honored the day but didn’t have the full concept. Maybe you’ve had land within your family for a while but you were never fully involved in the management decisions…. So you honored the fact that you had land… you honored the work your parents, husband, or grandparents did to “work” the land or manage the land – you respected the investment they made to keep the land within the family… but until YOU started to be more engaged you didn’t get the full-picture.
Now that you have started your involvement, maybe in just being engaged with WHAT is being done on the property or maybe you’re taking on ALL the decisions, you are starting to see all what was “unrecognized”. You’re also no longer looking at the short-term but what is best for the long-term. You’re no longer taking it for the day-by-days that you happen to visit the property, but envisioning of the what-could-be’s for the future. Just like before, you honored Mother’s Day as the one-day a year and then after becoming a mother yourself (whether you became a mother by giving birth, adopting, or just the like-a-mother to a friend’s child), you no longer see the day-by-day short picture but are now focused on the long-term. You are looking at how what you do “today” can turn into what can be “tomorrow”. You are making the sacrifices today to reap the benefits tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.
You see now how making a plan is important to help guide you on what WILL BE best for you and your family in the future.
Sometimes life happens, and the plan has to be altered, but you can now SEE the future.
Just like when you become a mother- your perspective completely changes and it can be a little worrisome but completely all-consuming – taking OWNERSHIP of your land will completely change your perspective, be a little worrisome and to an extent all-consuming. It will be one of the most exciting challenges and adventures of your life, that like motherhood, will change you from the inside out. Taking ownership and being engaged with your property is something to be proud of, and even on the hard days and when you have to make tough decisions on what to do, remember it will pass and keep your eyes on the big picture.
Happy Mother’s Day, and continue to make your mark…
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