Overall, even though my mother has given me invaluable lessons, the biggest gift she has given me is simply being herself.
Things my Mother Taught Me
Worth the Wait
You cannot sustain a relationship on sex alone. This is akin to trying to survive on eating nothing but cookies, candy, and cake.
Best Foot Forward
While reaching the Goldilocks sweet spot can be tough, it is the attitude that wins the offer letter AND the 2 second text response.
Do YOU
When you admire someone, you naturally want them to think highly of you. And as the saying goes, imitation is the highest form of flattery. But the thing is, if you are truly admiring the right people, they will want you to become the best version of yourself, not the second-best version of them.
Mature Communication
Communication is the lifeblood of any relationship. This includes communicating the good AND the bad. If you only communicate the positive and sweep the negative under the rug, this is like living on a diet of sugar; it's delicious, but not life-sustaining. However, if you only focus on the bad and leave out the good, that's akin to being on starvation rations; eventually, that relationship will look as bad as a wanna-be Instagram model.
Influence
Actively choosing what or who you allow into your life is the greatest determiner of where you will end up. If you do not purposefully choose your influences, they will choose you. And usually, the things or people that choose you are simply what's laying around where you are. Sometimes you'll get lucky. Most of the time, you'll get complacent.
Enjoy the Ride
Many times we succumb to society's ideals of what a journey should look like or when we should reach a certain destination. Females especially are susceptible to this pitfall. If you are making progress towards a goal, a life desire, or even simply just having fun, you are doing it right.
Awesome Begats Awesome
Potential without action is useless. There is everything right with seeing true potential inside or outside of yourself. There is everything wrong with simply sitting back and expecting great things to happen with no effort.
Validation
Feelings are ever-changing and maddeningly, unaffected by logic. Yet paradoxically, sometimes the only thing that can help change someone's emotions is the simple acknowledgment that their state of mind is real and that it is okay.
Patience
It takes patience to build a life that is worth living.
Hannah Elizabeth 