Sunday 8 May 2016

She put "J's" on my feet. ( Lessons learned from being raised by a single mom )



"Not everything is gonna be the way you think it ought to be", sings Sheryl Crow as I sit, scratching out words in black ink that try to capture the emotion.


I’ve waxed poetic about my grandfather and how I believe that I get this from him, but looking back now, I can remember my mom’s bedside table stacked with journals littered with words that she had written.  

So then I guess I got this from her, and she from him.

She raised us on her own, put food on the table, and "J's" on my feet.

She's loved me unconditionally through my most reckless of days.

I'm an observant little bastard; trust me, I notice everything, though I pretend not to at times.

It was through watching her that I learned the most.

There are a lot of lessons to be taught along the hard-knock road to becoming a man. Ironically, I learned them all from a woman.

Watching her life through my eyes, my world took shape, installing the fundamentals of who I became today.

Never get too high. Never get too low. Don't celebrate. Don't hold pity parties. Don't make things to be more important than they are. Nothing in life defines you - you define yourself.

And above all, I learned this:

Life unfolds in the most uniquely beautiful way. Its irony and fate provide a story much greater than one you could create.

Don't miss the beauty of your story unfolding by focusing on the commercials inside your head.

Know what you want, believe that you're worth it, and then let go of how it has to come.

Live your life, be present, authentic, and always follow your heart because life's greatest gifts are the ones you don't see coming, or in her case, the two!

- Jeff Moore

No comments:

Post a Comment