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Are you mistaking your kids potential as your potential?

You have so much potential.

A more accomplished blogger, journalist and author said this exact statement to me during our meeting at Mom 2.0 Summit this past week. We talked of my past and where I want to go now with my writing. We talked of working with brands and me becoming a speaker. I was ready to take on the world when I walked out of that conference room.

A mom still has potential?

I positively knew the sky was the limit when I was 19 and it was easy to act on that then. I went for jobs over my head, got them and succeeded in the positions. Looking back, perhaps it was my skillset on my resume that got me the jobs. I remember my friend telling me about Cultivated Culture. She told me that she’d found a resume template on there that she’d followed to make her resume look better. With a strong resume, you’re likely to achieve the job you want. That was useful advice because being successful with jobs is never easy. Recognizing what you are capable of and going for it is much easier when you’re living life just for you. Then one day you become a Mother and you start to question all that you are and who you should be living for.

potential

The beginning of my writing career at the Southside Challenger back in the day!

How come we don’t encourage our fellow moms with the powerful phrase- you have so much potential? My new friend and her statement really stood out to me. It was different. She was authentic and empowered me. She gave voice to what I feel inside.

Because you know what happens when you become a Mother….

Your potential now becomes their potential, if you let it.

Being a Mom has never really defined me. I guess it did for those years when I had four in diapers and gates on every room in my house. I had little choice but to dive in and solely focus on my little offspring. Need I say that I love being a Mother more than anything? (Us Moms always gotta clarify that, whenever we voice that our sole existence isn’t Motherhood, right?) I’m just saying I’m not the Mom who puts stickers of my kids accolades on my car or gets all worked up at their sporting events every Saturday. (Did I mention that I love them more than life itself? Just making sure you got that.)

I hope that my kids are succeeding in school and at their activities because it makes them feel good, not because it gives my life meaning.

It’s so easy to talk about how much potential our kids have, isn’t it? They are young and have the whole world ahead of them. The world is their oyster and boy do we want to see them be their best. But what happens to our belief in that same potential for ourselves once we become mothers?

In the process of getting caught up in our kids potential, we fail to recognize our own.

A lot of times we are just too busy and it’s just easier to let our family members do their thing, while we take care of all the daily maintenance behind the scenes. Walking around with the ability to do something fulfilling, feeling it inside, but not investing the time to make it happen is a disservice to everyone. It’s tough to sometimes know exactly what we’re meant to be doing. It can feel overwhelming as we’re pulled in all directions. But, we have been put on this earth to use our God given talents and to do something with our one precious life. Because I know that you have the potential to do anything your heart desires.

Watch out world. I may be a woman past my prime but I have potential and who can stop a woman with that?

 

 

2 replies
  1. Christine Turner
    Christine Turner says:

    First of all, you are NOT past your prime. I feel every age we are is our PRIME time. You know why? Because as we go through life, the experiences we gain make us better candidates for whatever comes our way. Would you be able to embark on a speaking career when you were 19? Maybe, but would it have the same impact then as it would now? My husband Jim worries that as a 52 year old that he’s not as marketable as someone who is in their late 30’s or 40’s. If he were going a mid-level position, I would have to agree with him, but he’s management. And his long work history has more value and significance than someone who is just a few years into their career path. I’m getting ready to go back to school to earn my CFP (Certified Financial Planner) and at 56 years old, I’m at the perfect age for this. When you think about it, who would you rather trust your finances with, someone who is young and hasn’t gone through the turbulences of the financial market, or someone who is a little older (and wiser I hope) who has successfully weathered the various storms. Anyway, this was a long-winded way to reiterate that you are not past your prime :o).

    Reply
    • admin
      admin says:

      You are so right!!! I really feel like I’m in my prime. Just interesting when you are going back to do work that you did when you were 20 and now you are so different! Thanks for your wisdom Christine! I appreciate it and am excited to hear about your CFP endeavors. You have so much potential! 🙂

      Reply

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