Restoring Our View Of Motherhood Намуна

I never would have guessed the story that tumbled out of the mouth of the beautiful mom across the table from me. Her hair was perfectly gorgeous, her eyes were kind. She was peaceful and joyful. 

“Everyone is dealt their cards. You don’t know what kind of hand you’ll get, but it’s what you do with the cards you’re dealt. Everyone is holding a card they didn’t expect in some way. I’m sure you are. Mine is lung cancer. I am recovering from surgery I had three months ago. My scars help me remember that life is good.” 

Her scars help her remember that life is good. 

She’s a wife and mom who has never smoked a day in her life. She told me that currently half of all lung cancer patients are young non-smokers. She told me about the process of choosing her wig through chemo. She told me it’s not something she brought on herself, but it’s something she has to bring herself through now. 

She holds a handful of cards. One of those cards is motherhood. And one is cancer. But another card, one she has purposely chosen, is gratitude.

What cards have been dealt to you, that now you are coping with? It seems no matter what life deals us, we can always grab gratitude from the pile and add it to our hand. 

That amazing mom is thankful for every single day she wakes up and is still with her kids—alive, able to hug them and hold them. 

That mom chooses to find the gold. Each new round of sixty days she gets until her next appointment is a gift. Those sixty days are gold.

That mom practices seeing the beauty of each breath. Of each load of laundry. Each dinner. Each homework night. Each hug. Each tantrum. All of those things tell her she is alive and present. 

Momma, whatever hand you have right now, draw a gratitude card. No one will stop you from adding that. Gratitude will shift your other cards around, put them in a new order, and give you a fresh look at the hand you’ve been dealt. 

Today, practice whispering “thank you” in the moments that feel the hardest. Thank God for the breath in the lungs of your screaming child. Thank God for the day you have with your kids. Thank God for the ability to make food, clean it up, and start all over. Because it means you are alive, present, and full of life.