Happy Mother's Day!
This is my 3rd attempt at writing this post...I think I have it right this time!!
I have been a mom for over 19 years now. It is definitely an amazing experience. As I reflect on what the past 19+ years has taught me, here are a few highlights: Being a Mom has helped me come to peace with judgement I placed on my own mom as I was growing up. It has stretched me to know how to love more than I ever knew I could. It has provided more joyful moments than I ever knew possible. It has helped me see my own weaknesses and motivated me to keep learning and growing, helping me overcome my weaknesses. Many times over the years it has given me powerful, sweet glimpses of how much God really does love each one of us, has a divine purpose for each of us, and never gives up on us. No matter what.
I realized years ago, as a "younger" mom, that I had some blocks. I did not know what that meant back then. What I knew was that I felt stuck. I kept finding myself re-living the same frustrations, battling the same thoughts in my head about my weight, my worth, other people, my purpose, etc. No matter how many prayers I said or how many hours of reading scriptures and self-help books, the benefits felt temporary. I fell back into the same frustrations year after year. I didn't know it yet, but I started to become open to new possibilities and new ways of doing things. When my doctor wanted to put me on hormone replacement therapy in my early thirties for some mild depression, I had a good friend tell me about a nutrition class that might help. At the time I didn't know how food could make that much of a difference for me, but as a last resort, I was willing to give it a try. Intuitively, the hormone replacement therapy did not feel like the right solution for me. Within a week or so of changing a few things in my diet, my depression lifted, and I was free from that. I was back!
A few more years down the road, still becoming more open, without even realizing it, I was talking with another good friend of mine. I was telling her one of my "victim stories" about how frustrated I was with some family situation - you know, the kind you build up in your head that becomes bigger and bigger every time you talk about it. The kind of story that lingers because you are expecting everyone else to change so you can be happier...ya, that was me. I was holding on to resentment, finding it difficult to let go and forgive - big things and little things. It wasn't for lack of prayers, I just didn't seem to be able to feel the prayers working. This friend of mine gives me the number of a lady she goes to and takes her children to when they are feeling "stuck" in their emotions. She was not a traditional therapist. She referred to her as her "energy lady". Can you guess what my first reaction was? WEIRD! However...I knew my personal pain, the stuff not many people knew about, was definitely getting in my way. It was that same pain that helped me once again, be open enough to give it a try. It was my last resort. That first appointment changed the course of my life.
In one hour, the weight of the emotional burden I had been carrying around felt so much lighter, that my shoulders actually felt lighter and relaxed. This energy lady did not require that I have an appointment every week. I made an appointment every time I started feeling a little "off", when things started to bug me. That was my cue that there were more emotions or issues I was ready to let go of. Each time I go for a "tune-up" I feel immediate results that have a ripple effect over the weeks or months between appointments. The thoughts I battle in my head begin to quiet. I begin feeling peaceful, as if all the answers to my prayers can finally reach me. How it all worked didn't make sense to me at first, but honestly, I did not care. It worked! I felt more connected to God, to my husband, to my kids, and to myself. I was able to start letting go of resentment. The miracle of forgiveness began to work in my life. I began to see myself as God sees me.
If you are looking for this kind of powerful transition in your life, you are in the right place at the right time!
Here is your moment of truth - are you ready to consider a new possibility? A new way of doing things? What could your life be like if you were really able to let go of that pain that not many people know about or understand? What would your life be like if you had faith in yourself again, to be at peace with your past and begin from this moment on, to step in to a new future?