As we approach ‘Mothering Sunday’, most of us remember our Mother on this special day. Most also remember both our parents on their other special days. However now it could be time to go beyond cards and flowers.
We all owe a deep debt of gratitude to our parents for creating us in the first place, then for giving us roots in a secure environment to progress from infancy to adolescence. The best parents of all then give us wings so that we might explore the world and soar to the heights of our own huge potential.
Many of our attitudes to work, relationships and life in general are coloured by how close our childhood came to this ideal. Couples can become parents without any training, lessons or experience. So it is not surprising that many fall short of the perfection that we might have felt was our right.
The ‘anniversary’ of Mothering Sunday provides an ideal opportunity to address past, perceived injustices, one that a great many people fail to grasp.
The key to overcoming any resentment or regret is forgiveness. After all, what has been done cannot be undone and you are what you are. You are also what you think, so Mother’s day is a great time to eliminate any negative thinking about your parents.
We might say, excluding of course parents who wilfully mistreat their children, that they did the very best that they could with the knowledge that was available to them at the time. Like you, they only discovered later what they didn’t know when they needed to know it most – so it is hardly surprising that they may have made a few mistakes along the way. Children who have been mistreated will require greater effort for forgiveness, but it is an effort well-worth making.
Some are held back in achieving great things in life because there is simply no room in their lives caused by too much “stuff” that need not be there. If you harbour a grudge or resentment, it will fester and impact on everything else that you do – an analogy might be like trying to cycle up hill with the brakes on ! The way to release the breaks is to simply, let go.
If it becomes apparent that you are being held back by some imagined past injustice, ask yourself three simple questions: ‘Could you let that feeling go ?’, ‘Would you let it go ?’, ‘When ?’.”
In the final analysis we all have a choice. We can carry negativity and bitterness with us to the grave or we can decide, right now, to let go and replace it with happiness and love. Share that love with your parents (and others) before it is too late.
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