May 10th – A Lesson from Mom

Sorry that I’ve been missing lately. I have not felt well (nothing specific, just the overwhelming need to sleep for 12 hours at a time), so I hadn’t been up to writing.  I hopefully will include the missing posts as bonus posts here and there, but I don’t want to promise several days of doubling up, because that is likely too much for me.

Anyway, I’m sorry for the interruption, but now we will continue with your regularly scheduled program from Blog Everyday in May. Today’s prompt asks for lessons learned from mothers or other female figures in your life in honor of Mothers’ Day.

My mother has taught me a lot of things, but there is one thing in particular that I wanted to take about. Even if she had never talked to me about this, I would have likely learned it from her anyway because this is something she does all the time.

She is kind to everyone, even (especially) people who are not kind to her.

She is a big “kill them with kindness” person, and while it was hard for me to understand and try to do myself as a child, as I have gotten older, I have seen seen how it makes my life and others’ lives much better.

When you are nice to someone who is mean to you, usually their reactions fall into two categories:
1. They realize they are being a jerk and stop being mean. They may even apologize. They may even be sincere!
2. They keep on being rude and end up making fools of themselves.

Now these results might not happen immediately, which was why this philosophy was difficult for kid-me. I have always been incredibly impatient, and when I was a child, I had an incredibly short temper. I still do, actually, but I’m much better at hiding it.

But I tried this at school and at work, and while not everyone turns around and is your best friend, it’s easier than getting drawn into a fight. I know my mom doesn’t always find it easy, but I am often amazed at her kindness and patience with people even when things are difficult.

So thank you, Mom, for this life lesson that has really helped me. I actually think trying to do this more was a major part in controlling my temper. It also helped me quite a bit in work, too – teaching and working with customers.

Have a fabulous Mothers’ Day.  You deserve it.