5 Pieces Of Wisdom I Learned From My Mother
My Mother is the strongest woman I know. Life has challenged her to many duels, but in the end she is always victorious. I, however, am my mother’s opposite. When life tries to come and kick me in the ass, I fall. I hurt. I bleed and almost die, but it’s her strength and the power of her words that helps me up. Life is tough and no one ever said that it would be easy, but let’s face it, sometimes you want to give up. In my moments of wanting to give up, I think back to the things my mother has told me.
1. Everything happens for a reason
Well, as generic it may sound, it’s so true. A few months ago I got my heart broken by the person I thought was my soul mate. He completely stepped all over my heart and vanished from my world without a single care. Fast-forward a few months, I have found an inner strength that I didn’t know I had. I have also learned that the pangs we feel from a breakup will diminish, and what’s best is that you’re free again to meet awesome new people. In these few months I have seen this come to pass. Everything does happen for a reason and in this particular season, I have done some of the boldest things of my life.
2. You reap what you sow
If you sow an avocado pit, in about 5 to 13 years, you’ll be spreading some of that green, buttery goodness on to some multi-grain toast. Does it take a while? Yes. Will it require patience on your part? Yes. Will it be worth it? Always. This rule applies to life too. If you’re a douche-bag, you’re going to get treated like one. If you’re a hater, people will hate you. If you sow seeds of goodness, solidarity, and love, you’ll reap them in due time. Be mindful of the seeds you’re sowing, because when your harvest comes, you want to make sure those fruits are good.
3. Silver and gold are refined by fire
My mom always says that if a person is destined for greatness, at some point they will get thrown into the fire. People destined for greatness always go through some of the most painful and difficult situations. Why, though? Why can’t life just be easy? Well, if you’re destined for greatness, be rest assured that opposition will always be present. A person destined for greatness is like silver and gold. Valuable, full of purpose, desired. The only way to purify silver and gold is by fire and the only way gold and silver are worth anything is if they’re purified. A person destined to succeed — and not just succeed, but kick ass in life — isn’t worth anything unless they’ve gone through struggles. If they don’t know what pain is and recognize the burn of tribulation, they’re just not worth as much.
4. Never be ashamed
We’ve all struggled with shame. Some of us have struggled with our looks and not feeling pretty enough or skinny enough. Others have had to deal with the “shame” of being different and having to Americanize themselves in order to fit in. Shame is such an ugly word and it brings ugliness to our world. My mom says that you should never be ashamed of where you come from or how you look. Easier said than done, but it’s the realest piece of advice ever. Your essence should never be lost because someone else doesn’t like it. You are who you are, end of story. I have struggled with my self-image for years. Ever since a boy called me fat in the 6th grade, I have battled with the scale. I’ve gone on strict diets, then binged like crazy. In college I gained like 40 pounds and just recently, I changed my sedentary life, started eating healthy and I’ve lost 40+ pounds. In my journey of both gaining and losing weight, my mom has always had something positive to say. She says that what you see in the mirror is the shell that covers the true beauty.
5. Have a voice
My mother is very outspoken. She’s blunt and tells it like it is. I struggle with this because I don’t ever want to offend anyone or hurt anyone’s feelings. The reality is that there will be times in life when you have to speak your mind. Having a voice doesn’t mean you’ll go around criticizing everyone constantly. It doesn’t mean you’ll purposefully go picking fights with people. Having a voice means not being afraid to stand up for what you believe in. It also means not being afraid to share your opinions, regardless of what others may think.