Walk Alongside Your Child
Are you more comfortable as a steamroller or a companion?
Would you rather bulldoze the road smooth, or offer a hand through rocky terrain?
I arrived at motherhood as the first person and I didn’t even know it. My body told me: it felt panic every time I was faced with upset. Sometimes it felt rage, anxiety, and intrusive thoughts.
I would distract, redirect, or retreat.
All shields, to avoid what I couldn’t handle.
If you get in this habit, you begin to play offense. You fear those moments, acting to prevent them.
Paving the road.
Then I realized I’m not in the business of selling a rose-colored life. That presumes a level of control I’d never be able to possess.
What to do instead?
Get comfortable with discomfort. Remind myself that any moment of pride I’ve experienced has been a result of some measure of struggle.
Luckily, my children serve as a visual reminder when I veer off-course. It took labor - in its most literal, inspiring, magnificent definition - to bring them here.
The work is worth it.
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