I haven't had a free moment lately, nor as I write this, but I need to take a second to listen to the voice scolding me now. As my first Mother's Day came and went so leisurely and lovely thanks to my sweet Nate, I also had a disappointing realization that I'm not the mother I want to be to my son. I know no one is who they want to be, and I'm sure there's not a mother who thinks they are the mother they want to be, but I am not even on the path there. As I finally get to listen to the conference talks that were only words going in one ear and out the other while I lassoed Oscar away from danger, I realize I am the person Dieter F Ucthdorf is talking about when he mentions "Our 'do it switch' gets rotated to the 'later' position." Here's the talk if you heard it and retained none if it like I did.
The talk is called "Your Potential, Your Privilege," and he was addressing men, but it cut me to the core. So here I am, trying to take his advice and not "let a day go by without doing something to act on the promptings of the spirit."
In my first hectic year of being a mother, when it comes to taking care of my spirit, I've somehow unintentionally taken on a motto of "I'll do that in just a second, as soon as I get this done." By adopting this motto, I've arrived at my first Mother's day not on my way to being who I thought I wanted to be, and not on my way to my potential or benefiting from my privilege. So I'm changing my motto to "don't let a day go by without taking care of your own spirit." Hopefully in turn I will be reaching my potential in taking care of Oscar. Happy belated mother's day.
