What Is Mother Love?

A Very Special Love

I think there's something really special about mother love. We carry this baby inside us for nine months while she grows and matures, and already we are bonding with her. She really is part of us, part of our own body; how can we not have such a deep, almost painful love for her then?

But it's not all lullabies and rainbows is it? Sometimes loving our kids is really hard work!

Our Love Is Tested

As children grow our love for them is tested many times:

They wake up six times in one night!

They push against you to see where the boundaries of behaviour are.

They gradually emotionally separate from you.

They may not see school work as important like you do.

As teenagers they may do things we don't agree with.

And so many more things!

Dealing with these issues can be a challenge, but one that we can succeed at with a few special tactics. Mother love will overcome all!



We Can Succeed At The Challenge That Is Motherhood!

I have found that to be a good, loving mom I need to:

like and accept myself,

forgive myself and others,

be grateful for my life and all that's in it, and

focus on the positive.

I need to look for the lesson in every experience; what is it teaching me.

I know that everything has a purpose in helping me to become the person that I'm meant to be, for my own wellbeing and for the benefit of the world at large.

Do I Like Myself?

We're all a mix of strengths and weaknesses which come from our genes, our upbringing and our various experiences. We can't change any of these things, as they're all in the past, but we can choose to accept who we are and move forward into the future.

"I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become."Carl Jung

I think we need to recognise that we're all made "in the image of God", and with all the potential that that implies, and that we can make of our lives whatever we want them to be.

Define Yourself - Don't Let Others Define You

I love the quote above because I could very easily have fallen into a pit of self-pity when the family court gave my ex residency of our two boys; and in fact I did for a long while. Eventually I decided that their opinions of me didn't have to define who I am; but that I could (and would) decide who I wanted to be. I decided that, no matter what they said, I was secure in the knowledge that I have always done my best for my kids.

Positive Affirmations

I have found positive affirmations to be really helpful in increasing self esteem, learning to forgive and move on, be grateful for things in my life and generally having a positive outlook.

You can think of your own that fit exactly with what you want to achieve, but some general guidelines are:

The affirmation must be in the first person e.g. I am a wonderful person.

The affirmation must be in the present tense e.g. I am perfectly healthy in body, mind and spirit.

The affirmation must be positive e.g. I love and accept myself exactly as I am.

The affirmation should be short and specific e.g. I am what I choose to be.

The affirmation should excite you, without this they're weak.

The affirmation should be repeated often, this helps the new belief to be imprinted on your subconscious mind.

Try to feel how you will feel when you've got the results you want.

I have found that writing down the affirmations gives them more power and you can put them up on the wall around your home so that you read them often.

Take a look at this great affirmations video:

Mother love is something that grows within us during pregnancy and is always there. But sometimes it gets buried under the stress and depression that life experiences can provoke. Our children need us to be happy, positive and consistently loving, so we owe it to them to do what we can to make sure that we are.