The power of motherhood

Regardless of whether or not you are a mum, it's important to recognize the powerful impact mothers have (& potentially CAN have) on their children - including the role your own mother has played in the development of your self worth & happiness.

As a mother, you know you are bringing a new child into this world who you want to love and protect with all your heart. Pregnancy brings with it many hopes, dreams and fears but no-one can prepare you for the amount of pressure you place on yourself to be perfect. This pressure often leads to self doubt & self criticism because the expectations mothers place on themselves are often unrealistic. and idealistic of a perfect mum that in reality doesn't exist.

Despite these internal worries, the best part about being a mum is having an opportunity to know in your heart that you are adding value to your child/ren's lives.

Being a parent comes part and parcel with responsibility, worry, fun, happiness, exhaustion, exhilaration & much more... It's arguably the toughest job in the world, despite its lack of recognition. As a mum, you often feel responsible for the happiness of your children (& often of your partner as well). You can feel so much pressure to have to be perfect because there has never been more information available on the impact of parenting on child development.

However, there are always two ways of looking at this relationship. On the one hand you can focus on all the worries before you & the magnitude of your responsibility to assist your child/ren to grow & develop into strong, healthy & successful adults. Yet another take on this role is focussing on what a great opportunity you have to empower your child with the wealth of knowledge and experience you have learnt throughout your life. Whilst not always perfectly achieved, your own mother would have done her best - from her own world of experience - to impart her 'life lessons' on to you.

Whilst all mums are bound to get things wrong from time to time, each generation has the fortune of learning lessons from the previous generation, so as a mum you have the power to instill all the positive values you have learnt (& will continue to learn) throughout life.

Part of this learning is remembering to look after yourself.

A mothers own happiness and success is of paramount importance to her child's development. Through her happiness her child learns all the joy that life has to offer & he/she receives the benefit of her positive moods. Similarly, through her success, her child has a great role model to inspire her children to strive to be their best.

When you look at your mother, you are most likely judging her on aspects such as love, dedication, support and self worth. These are the most powerful elements of mothering that are most likely going to have the most profound effect on your long term relationship with her and the closeness of your relationship in the future. Thus, you can see that by appreciating all your mother is doing for you, encouraging her to look after herself - and taking in board this advice when/if you are a mum - will empower you both to have a more fruitful and happy life.