Mother's Day

Mothers. They are the people who are closest to us. Or maybe they’re the people farthest from us. Or maybe they’re dead. Or maybe we never knew them. Or maybe we don’t know who our mother is. But I’m willing to bet you have someone in your life who is a mother figure, if you don’t have your biological mother. And Mother’s Day is a perfect day to celebrate that.

Mothers are the ones who raise us from birth, who influence us, who protect us. They are always thinking of our welfare, and can’t bear to see us devastated. There are plenty of rules and expectations but they are all done out of love. They are the people who would give almost anything to see their child successful and happy.

But how do we treat mothers? Well, sometimes we do treat them well. We thank them, tell them we love them (though sometimes not enough), we enjoy spending time with them as they do us, and we wouldn't have it any other way. But sometimes we don’t give them enough credit. We don’t realize how hard they really do work, or how when we are upset they can tell, and they worry. Sometimes we take them for granted or yell at them. Wish they would leave us alone. That we could escape, go live somewhere else. But this feeling rarely lasts.

We wake up the next day. We remember that fight we had. We feel awful about it. We make amends. And our mothers always forgive us, because they love us. But I can’t help but think of the people who don’t have this. The people who have strained relationships with their mothers. Or worse, their mother is gone and they will never be able to make amends. That is why you have to seize opportunity.

Mother’s Day may just be a day of the year to some, but it is also a reminder. A reminder that time is finite. That we have this wonderful person in our lives that we decide to celebrate. But for those who don’t have a good relationship with their mothers it is a reminder that their relationship is strained. Maybe it has been strained for a while, or maybe it was only recently so. Either way, Mother’s Day can be tough for these people.

So what should you do if your relationship with your mother is strained? Should you pretend just to make amends, or should you be stubborn? It really is your choice. It may seem a hard thing to try to fix your relationship with your mother, but it also takes energy to hold that grudge. The same for the other way around, if any mothers are reading this. Even if you don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things, it can be freeing to just accept someone for their differences, instead of holding onto that hatred of the person.

But ultimately Mother’s Day should be a day of happiness. A day to celebrate being a mother. How will you be celebrating your Mother’s Day? Or is your relationship with your mother broken beyond repair?