That One Thing

Do you ever wonder about your gifts?  Why some people are able to act. Why others are able to sing. Why others can play a musical instrument.  Why others are able to sing and play a musical instrument.  How some are geniuses.  Some are artists.  Some people seem to know everything about everything.  And then there are people like me.  I’m just me.  No major gifts or skill sets.  I can do many things but I'm remarkably average at each one of them.  I enjoy the beautiful state of mediocrity.  Smart, but not too smart. Nice, but not too nice.   I can carry a tune, but I can’t sing.  “I am a hard worker,” is what I usually say when one asks me about my strengths.  But even then, there’s not this one thing that drives me to work hard….except for motherhood.  Motherhood seems to be that one thing that drives me.  It’s not really what I do, it’s who I am.  Motherhood is that one thing that I feel like I’m good at.  And, it’s not because I do all the right things; in fact, even when I do all the wrong things, I still feel like I’m good at it.  Why?  Because I absolutely love my kids.  Motherhood is that one thing in life that feels effortless.  That one thing that is as natural as breathing.  That one thing that even when your child is driving you crazy, you can still look into their eyes and your heart melts.  Even when they scream at you and bite you (yes, my son has bitten me!), you still have restraint enough to hug them.  When I look at my life, I wish there was this one thing that I was good at.  I wish I could sing.  I wish I could play an instrument.  Instead, I’m just me.   I’m a woman who adores her kids.  Of course, I don’t want to romanticize this role.  There are times when the kids drive me nuts, but at the same time, when I look into their eyes, I feel like I’ve seen angels.  I catch a glimpse of heaven.  You know you’re biased when you think that no one has graced the earth as beautiful as your child, even though deep inside you know they are a little funny looking (like when their bodies haven't grown at the same rate as the size of their heads!).  The funny thing about motherhood is that when you become a mother, you love your child with a love that is incomprehensible. You actually think that no one could love their child as much as you love your child.  Moms feel this way.  I feel this way.  That’s why I can say that motherhood is that one thing for me.


What is your one thing?

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