Motivation Information |
A Turning Point
19 years ago, I was a young working mother at 28, independent and working for a prestigious company, until circumstances made me choose between family and career. After going through weighing my options, I chose to become a full-time Homemaker because I believed that family should come first if the situation would permit. However, I had a wake-up call four years ago. It happened on a lazy weekday afternoon when my 10 yr. old daughter arrived from school. As an affectionate habit, I'd kiss and hug her, join her in her room, and help her settle down. It's great hearing how her day has been. But instead of receiving reciprocal warmth, I got a glowering look plus a creased forehead for a bonus. Although I've been noticing her surly attitude whenever I approached her after school in the past months, such display of rejection sank only during that unsuspecting, lazy, afternoon. After getting used to doing things together or simply being there for her 24hours a day, a sudden realization that I need to respect certain boundaries did put me off balance. 'Privacy and 'independence' suddenly become the words of the day. She wanted less of the 'intrusive' side of her mom. Her notebooks, slum books, even notepads gradually became confidential. Gone are the days when she wrote loving notes on mother's day except when it has been required in class, and whispered 'I love you's' for no reason at all. Gone are the days when she wants to be cuddled, to listen to bedtime stories, to sleep through sweet lullabies only I could hum dotingly. The person in front of me that lazy afternoon was neither an adolescent nor a child. I simply saw a daughter distancing herself from me. And with my son already submerged in his own world, seeing my daughter little by little wanting less of me can really hurt and make me rethink of my role as a Mother and Homemaker, and comparing then and now. A Change of Direction I guess with more time in my hand, I've slipped into a limbo, doing things I've been so used to doing but sensing there's no need for them. With much encouragement from a long time friend and classmate, I was able to pull myself out of that dramatic lull. We did a little brainstorming, assessing some things I can and cannot do at past 40 years of age. And my love and talent for writing was brought up. The work was the most appropriate and less demanding thing I can indulge in at that moment. The best part was I can work from home, earn a little with less disruptions to the demands of home life, and I learn and grow in the process. Through this friend's prodding, I started to reconsider the idea and I discovered my fervor to share through writing still burns inside. I pursued writing although I was apprehensive as I started out late in a competitive field. Imagining myself as a 'Published Writer' elicited fear, uncertainty, and embarrassment. It is a title or label that can be intimidating and with inherent criteria that may require much to live up to. But I went ahead. I did not rely on mere talent. I worked on acquiring additional knowledge by investing in books, endless search on the internet, and getting educated through correspondence courses. I practically walked on a self-help journey to reinventing myself. Answers From Within After close to five years of writing online and in print, I can say that I made use of that 'wake-up call' wisely without going through much drastic changes. It is amazing how we could at times come up with a tremendous list of put-downs for ourselves. No wonder some people achieve so less in a lifetime despite being so talented, innately intelligent and with bountiful opportunities right before their eyes. Sometimes, we need wake-up calls to push us and remind us of latent skills and forgotten passions which become our tools for reinventing our lives. We all have a significant part of us that get muddled with the chaos of everyday tasks. It is a part of us that lies dormant in the midst of routine responsibilities. And it is never too late to tap them, to work on them and to revive them. I've also learned to listen to and recognize messages not readily discernible. These days, I may be in for another wake up call because it is midlife for me and adolescence for her. There will be more periods of realization and crossroads ahead for both of us. We will have our own crisis to face and ways to understand and tolerate each other. But before the next wake up call arrives, I am busy being a mom, a wife, and a Writer at the moment, too occupied to take my daughter's intermittent adolescent rejections seriously. About The Author Grace V. Planas, Filipino Chinese living in the Philippines, is a Homemaker and part time Freelance Writer. Formerly a Contributing Writer of Working Woman Magazine (Phils), most of her works are currently published online. She writes Poetry, Psychology/Self Help, informative as well as inspirational pieces. Some of her works can be read at TheWriter'sLife, Absolute-DebateDesk, HiddenTalent, The Techmage, Poetrypoem.com, The Ezine Dot Net, LongStoryShort, 1stHolisticLiving.com, Uselessknowledge.com and more. She holds a degree in Accounting, has completed correspondence courses on Freelance Journalism and Adult Psychology. She has two teenage kids, a boy and a girl, and an extremely supportive husband. She's been writing since she was in grade school and was a Staffer and later Literary Editor for her School's College paper.
MORE RESOURCES: Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting |
RELATED ARTICLES
The Default Setting In the coaching relationships I have with our clients, the major problem I see is that individuals end up in the same place - over and over and over again. They mean to save money and build wealth, only to end up (again) with "too much month at the end of the money. Lights are Off and No One is Home The other day I was on my way home, and for some reason all the traffic lights were out. It was 5pm, so needless to say it was rush hour, and pure chaos. If I Had 24 Hours To Live A few years back, the ex-recording artist, turned Pastor, turned recording artist again, Mase, had a record out called "If I Had 24 hours to live?"During the song, he, and a couple of other rappers, stated what they would do if they had 24 hours to live.For some reason, when I sat down to write this newsletter, I thought of that song, "If I Had 24 hours to live?"What if you found out that you had 24 hours to live?Think about it for a moment. A Quick Observation of the Low Class We can all learn a valuable lesson about the types of behavior and attitudes to avoid like the plague, simply by observing the characteristics of people we all know are low class. Being low class is not a function of the lack of money or social status. 5 Keys to Maintaining Personal Change I look out my window at daybreak as the sunrise creates tiny sparkles on sheets of frozen snow. Two mornings later, the snow and sparkles are gone. Do Yourself A Favor--Forgive "Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned." BuddhaI can't count high enough to number the people in my clinical office and in my seminars who have argued. JJKs First Six Secrets to Becoming a Successful, Creative Entrepreneur! Hello Creative Entrepreneurs!As many of you may know I have 24 Secrets to Becoming a Successful Creative Entrepreneur.In this article I am going to share with you my first SIX SECRETS but let's start with the thought for the day:Your determination and desire to succeed and be a winner will take you far, even though sometimes events may be moving a little slower than you wish. The Ultimate Kick-butt Motivational Lesson How often have you struggled with yourself over the work that needs to be done? How many times have you put off performing some task or other because it's too mundane?Not everything you do in business is going to excite you. There will be many times when you just can't get yourself sufficiently fired up to make the effort to start, develop or even finish a project. Is Failure the End of Everything? "The important thing is to learn a lesson every time you lose." --John McEnroeMuch as we would like, not everything is going to go our way. Ambitiously Pursuing Your Own Self (Excerpted from The Power of Ambition series)What is the origin of true ambition? There exists really only one place to find true ambition and that is within you - in every thought, in every movement, in every motivation. Your ambition is an expression of who you truly are, your own self-expression. How To Get Through A Bad Day No matter how hard you try to make them otherwise, some days are just awful. They start off bad, they never get any better, and they end on a low and sometimes even gloomier note. Seeing Through the Pain We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret or disappointment.~ Jim RohnNothing lasts-not even pain. Do You have a Dream? Do you find yourself sitting at work longing to be somewhere else and doing something you have always wanted to do?We've all had moments like that and my moment came in 1995.I can vividly remember the day it happened. Ready, Set, Action! James 2: 17?faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. Make It Happen Now! Most people think that when they have chosen a path that's it - that's the path to follow. This is far from the truth according to leading Business Coach? Brad Tonini who has just released his latest book "Make It Happen Now!"I asked Brad to share his thoughts on why we don't get started to "Making Things Happen". The Benefits of Keeping A Journal Keeping a journal has many advantages and benefits. Whether you write a few lines or pages, through journaling, you can record and track a lot of information that can be easily retained for future reference. Learn to Do What Winners Do But Others Will Not If you want to be a winner you have to be prepared to develop a certain personal trait which others will not.Are you prepared to do more to receive more? Or are you like most people who want consistently to do less and less, yet are mistakenly expecting more in return. Motivation, Your Core Resource Your motivation is one of the core resources you have to accomplish all the things you want to achieve.Let us get one thing clear though before we handle this resource called motivation. Dont You Quit! "A man who has nothing to die for is not fit to live." -Martin LutherYou sat in that secret corner of your room. Top 5 Reasons Why Youre Not Living Your Dream 1. "I'm too old to make a change. |
home | site map | contact us |