Happy Birthday Mom!

Life Lessons From My Mom

“No daughter and mother ever live apart, no matter what the distance between them.” – Christine Watson

  This post is dedicated to my mom, MJ for her birthday (November 21st). MJ is my best friend and the Matriarch and rock of our family and deserves all the love in the world- so send her some well wishes for her bday!

 With that I also want to dedicate this post to all the moms out there, whether you are here or no longer “physically here” you are always with us in not just our greatest and darkest moments- but all the moments in between as a guiding force over your loved ones, always present and there XO.

Got It From My Mama

 

“A Mother is not a person to lean on, but a person to make leaning unnecessary.” – Dorothy C. Fisher

 

CEO, Crisis Manager, Coordinator of Chaos, Event Planner, Nurse, Peacemaker, Confidant, Chauffeur, Teacher, Daughter, Aunt, God Mother, Wife, Mother and Best Friend.

The list goes on and on, as the amount of hats a mom wears is simply immeasurable but above are just a FEW of the hats that my mom wears and I don’t know how she does it- I’m out of breathe just writing it!

I wouldn’t exactly say my “claim to fame” is gift giving therefore I thought I would use my words to convey to my mom how much I appreciate her- and to wish her a very happy birthday! With that I wanted to reflect on a few of the life lessons that she has taught me along the way that I find so ever important and which are the grounding foundation behind my existence.

*Cue Eye Roll* Something else ( I know I know it seems like everything) that stood out for me when I was reading Jessica Simpson’s Open Book, was a line she said about how important it is to truly tell those who you love how you feel about them.

It was something along the lines of “We go through life assuming that the people we love know how we feel about them, but often so much goes unsaid.”

Mom- you will never know how truly grateful I am for you, but hopefully my words can show you just a little bit!

Okay so here we go!!!

 

Not My Circus Not My Monkeys

 Or “Not my Farm, Not my Pig.” If you haven’t heard this expression before basically what it means is that we shouldn’t allow ourselves to get involved into the drama or issues of others not pertaining to us(on petty non -political or worldly matters) and essentially we shouldn’t fight others battles that have nothing to do with us(this is so hard for me.)

The idea behind this statement is that if we constantly consume ourselves in others problems- trying to fix them or to make them our own- we then start craving and becoming drawn to the drama in our lives, depleting ourselves of positive energy and consumed by worries that aren’t our own. We draw focus from working on ourselves to trying to fix and control others.

I laugh at this saying because “Not my Circus, Not my Monkey” – I mean just call me the Circus Ringmaster lol, especially in my “younger years.”

Every ounce of drama I could find- I involved myself in. Bringing the theatrics into the lives of those around me- by continuing to fuel the vicious cycle of drama and becoming all consumed with trying to control, manage or “fix” others- nothing else was a priority just THE DRAMA.

While I have improved vastly on not concerning myself into the drama (relatively speaking) or at least being more mindful of choosing what I will allow to consume my energy and what I will not allow.

What I loved about my mom truly teaching me the meaning of this phrase was that she has such a unique way of calming me down and providing the perspective I need in all situations- The BIG PICTURE!

MJ also has a great way of not assuming her children are always in the right (know any parents like that lol!?!?) and always giving EVERYONE in the situation the benefit of the doubt. Simply, she would make sure that we were telling all sides to the situation- not just the ones favorable to us, and she never glorified her kids to other parents, in the sense of knowing we to make mistakes and our not perfect, and that we may just as well have played a role in the situation or drama.

Anytime I come to her about drama- she always asks me “Is this really your problem” and then I would hear the line “Not Your Circus, Not Your Monkey”, if it was not.

  

Passion and Purpose

 Not many people can successfully raise four children (especially our crazy Gormley asses) and then decide to go on to have a successful sales career at India Hicks, where she worked her way up to being a top earner in the company, which qualified her to be invited with a group of other qualifying women to New York City, to not only meet and dine with India for her 50th birthday-but also was invited to help India design her next handbag for her line in honor of her birthday called “The Big 5-0.”

Not that this is important, but I feel as though I influenced the design- as it’s a beautiful leopard purse but that’s not the point here or is it!? Blogger by day- designer by night!??!

Anyways…..

  You know how much passion it takes to start something new after your job is already done? To put yourself out there and to go after something you want- no matter what age? It takes so much passion to constantly strive for more and to strive to use your passion and purpose in this life-  and it’s beyond inspiring in every sense of the word.

 Seeing the “career side” to my mom taught me to go after whatever you want and that hard work can lead to endless opportunities- no matter when in life- just simple start and never stop.

 

Being a CEO of Life

My sister Greta always jokes, that my mom runs a secret fortune 500 company because of how busy she always is, and how many hats she wears and I couldn’t agree more. It seems no matter what our beloved mom does she does it with class, grace, hard work and passion. Dedicating all she has to her projects, but making it look so effortless.

She has set the tone for the saying “This is your life, hire, fire and promote accordingly”, simply that life is too short to surround yourself with negative energy or relationships and just the idea of demanding the best for yourself in life.  A sense of getting back the energy you put out there in life, as we all deserve the love we so freely give to the world in return.

 It Takes Two Too Play Tug a War, We Have the Choice to Drop the Rope

  My mom has said this saying to me for YEARS, and especially well before I embarked on my own wellness journey so at first it was really annoying Lol because when you aren’t ready to work on yourself, you feel triggered by “self- help” as you know deep down you need it but aren’t there yet. Projections, Projections, Projections…..

ANYWHO- this is a line that has stuck with me throughout my life, out of all the lessons my mother has taught me.

Simply put- it takes two to be engaged in drama or a fight, but we always have the choice to drop the rope. Essentially- stop carrying around grudges from the past and release your soul free so that it can be at peace. Rid yourself of the negative energy that has been weighing you down.

We only hurt ourselves by holding onto tough situations and when we engage in a fight. Truly the only thing we can really control is our reaction to situations, therefore, we have the choice to let go of pain from the past, and we should do this as often as possible for the sake of our own inner peace and livelihood.

 It takes two to tango- but it only takes one to simply drop the rope.  

Drop the rope.

 

Confidence

I saved the best for last and I wouldn’t have it any other way! Okay, so I feel like my mom may be rolling her eyes while reading this- but hear me out!

I truly will attribute the root of my confidence back to my mom. Often (weird brag) people ask me “how are you so confidant” and I always think back to my childhood.

No matter how many tests I failed or how far I fell behind in the classroom (she knew how hard I studied) and she would reassure me “you will hit your stride one day, all of the resilience and hard work you are learning now will make you a superstar.” I don’t think she knew how much I needed to hear that, in those dark moments of self- doubt- and when she said it I believed her because she believed in me.

I trusted her that she knew best (she does) and that is the driving force behind why I will never give up and why I will always believe in myself- because even at my lowest moments-  because you MOM always believed in me and taught me to believe in myself.

Okay so that was emotional- on a second note- this lady- MJ also rocked a white tuxedo to her prom (SHES GONNA KILL ME) total babe however and the most legendary photo of all time. NOT MINE TO SHOW BUT………… #legend

And End Scene

 Mom, you are my best friend and the best mom to walk the face of this earth. This is just a short list of the many, many life lessons you have taught everyone around you- but most importantly what you have instilled in your children.

We can never tell you enough, but we love you so and appreciate you always.

Happiest of birthdays and let’s put 2020 behind us as the best is yet to come!

 

“After all, you’re the only one who knows what my heart sounds like from the inside.”

 

 

Vibes
Xo,