I feel that becoming a Mom has not only brought joy to my life but a new perspective. Before giving birth I had persistent adverse beliefs about life in general, I over-reacted to unfortunate events and often wallowed in my misery for much too long.
An example of this is when I would lose items. I have always been told that I would lose my head if it weren't attached, and quite frankly I agree. I always tended to leave behind items everywhere I went, some of which cost me a lot of money, such as scarves, sunglasses, jewelry and hats. I had my blackberry stolen, my laptop broken, and a diamond earring somehow fell out of my ear somewhere and I didn't even notice until a friend pointed it out.
Growing up an only child, my materialistic belongings meant a lot to me, my teddy bears and dolls became my "friends," and this continued into my teen hood when I would have frequent meltdowns over my expensive clothes that got chewed up by the dog, or my limited edition teen magazines that got left somewhere.
Unfortunately when disaster (or so I thought) struck my father was far from helpful, he would try to be helpful by giving me a "should have..." lecture that upset me even more because I will never be able to change what has happened in the past.
I was reminded of these frequent occurrences when I went into town with my daughter the other day. I stopped at the local thrift store to try on clothes, and somehow forgot my sweatshirt in the change room. Not just any sweatshirt, but a Lululemon sweat shirt I had saved up my hard earned cash a few years ago to purchase.
By the time I realized I had lost my sweatshirt and phoned the thrift store, someone had already purchased it. I was sad for a few minutes, but quickly turned the negative situation into a positive one.
I though about how I would feel if I had discovered a one hundred dollar sweatshirt in a thrift store being sold for only a few dollars, I would be ecstatic! That sweatshirt that I left behind probably made a fortunate person very happy, not only that, but I have a couple more hoodies that are newer than that one, that I like even better. I don't need tons of nice cloths, a hoodie or two is plenty, what's the point in having a huge collection of expensive clothes just to be ruined when my baby burps or spits up.
Not only that, but I now realize these things that I have lost in my life, no matter what the price, are simply things. Inanimate objects cannot and should not bring fulfillment to one's life, and should not be what the person centers their life around. When we die, we cannot bring our items with us, and when it comes to more important aspects of life such as love, hope, joy and happiness, the importance of our assets nonetheless fails.
Don't get me wrong, I have items that are precious to me such as the jewelry that I inherited from my Mom when she passed on, or the items I get a lot of use out of, such as the laptop I am typing on. What would happen if these things somehow got stolen, lost or broken?
I would be upset, there's no doubt about it, but I would move on. Without any of my materialistic objects in mention I have LOTS: I have a safe environment to live in and if that is no longer available to me I have friends that I can count on to help me out, I have people who care about me so deeply who reached out to me at the lowest points in my life, I have wonderful memories of my childhood such as the time I spent with my Mom before she passed away, or my first job that I hope to pass down to my dear precious daughter at some point. I have a wonderful father who cares about me deeply and is very supportive of my decision to raise my daughter even though her father is unable to be with us at this time. And last but not least, I have the most amazing gift of all, an adorable, smiling, cuddly bundle of joy, my daughter.
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