Think Free. Feel Free.

I am a mother of three beautiful children. They are everything to me. Everything. I wake up in the morning wondering what I can do to teach them the things that will help them grow into well-adjusted, happy adults. I go to bed at night worrying about the mistakes that I continually make as a mother. 

But, the number one thing I do that creates the most problems and pain for me is that I attach my emotional well-being on their behavior. If they get into fights with each other, like they always do, I get so angry. If they don’t listen when I ask them to do something, I get frustrated. I keep telling myself that it’s their fault. If they would just be kind to each other I wouldn’t feel angry. If they would just listen to me and do what I ask, I wouldn’t get frustrated. 

The truth is, my anger and frustration are coming from my thoughts. And that is the best news ever. It means I am free. My happiness is dependent on something that is 100% in my power. My mind. I’m not saying it’s easy for me to flip that switch. It takes practice. It takes deliberation. But, when I choose to remember that my children are acting exactly as they should. That their behavior is part of their development, and that I don’t have to fix it, just guide it as best I can, I feel free. Free to feel peace, free to feel patience, free to feel anything I want to feel, independently of what my children choose to do with their freedom.