A reflection for Mother's day n the words of founder Diane Nettleton.
I only recently realised that Mothering Sunday is always on the fourth Sunday of Lent exactly 3 weeks before Easter Sunday. I hadn’t associated it before with the church. Traditionally it was a day when people visit the church in which they were baptised in and in which they honour their Mother.
More recently it has become a day to celebrate Mothers with gifts, flowers, Sunday lunch. It is a family day and a day to break from normal routine and rejuvenate. Last year I wrote an Instagram how families come in so many variations. In my own family there are those of us whose Mothers died young, who have lost children, who are trying to have children, who are pregnant but only after years of treatment, amazing Mum's coping with the challenges of motherhood but the message of the post was that we should celebrate Mother Nature who’s caring, nurturing, loving qualities we should aspire to.
Now that I know the date of Mother’s Day is dictated by Easter it made me consider how Lent is about giving up something and how much Mothers give up for their children and families.
For this reason, the day should be about not only celebration but also gratitude.
Celebrating is about having a positive mindset. It doesn’t have to cost anything but it’s about seeing the good in what may seem not such a good day. We are not always conscious of the good because we are programmed to problem solve, so focus more on the negative. If you start to celebrate even the smallest of things your physical and psychological health starts to improve.
Practising gratitude should be about specific things you feel grateful for. I try and practice gratitude every day. I focus on what is good in my life thinking more of people rather than things. I think of someone who may have done an act of kindness to me, even if that is just bringing me a cup of tea. I think of nature and something that day I may have seen, a beautiful sunrise or the trees changing colour, or hearing the rain but being safe and warm inside. Finally, I think of myself and how grateful I am for my well being and all the time I do this I smile, because that is the only way that your mind knows that your body is happy!
So rather than just on Mothering Sunday, lets all celebrate and be grateful and you will find that by changing the way you see your daily life you will start to change yourself and have improved self-esteem and mental resilience.