Mothers Are Warriors
It always felt natural to me to go against most things imposed by society, continuously breaking out of labels and limitations as my mother always had the courage to push me beyond my boundaries. A trait we've shared our whole lives, my mom and I constantly saw the unknown not as a fear but as a kind of stimulus, and once we both progressed to our limits and comfort zones, the only logical move was always for us to keep pushing on.
My mother didn't teach me to be competitive but to consistently believe in my potential — she always believed in me so I guess it made me believe in myself too. She taught me about confidence, sixth sense, self-awareness, integrity, and always, no matter what, trusting my intuition. My mom taught me to be strong by osmosis, simply because she’s the strongest woman I know. She is so hard to break yet so extremely fragile, another trait we have also shared our whole lives. She is not rough but she is sharp, and just like it happens with my own tongue, she sometimes speaks her mind way too candidly and often suffers the consequences of it.
Moved by her fierce beliefs, my mom taught me to be a powerful young woman — one with multiple desires, goals, dreams and relentless ambition, who regularly goes after what she wants and repeatedly gets it. She taught me to be humble but to always be proud of my accomplishments and strive for even bigger achievements. She taught me to learn from others, let others learn from me and see the sensibility in the world. Sometimes she tells me I have too much of an intense personality so I feel things too deeply and act out of impulse way too often. Deep down, I can see her past rewinding in front of her eyes every time she stares at me for too long.
My mother originally struggled to let me learn lessons on my own which caused us to constantly butt heads. After all, she is a mother and that's what they do by nature — they nurture. She always knew I was capable of handling anything on my own but she was skeptical in letting me fly with my own wings at first — she deeply worried about me and my unusual ways, my ceaseless crave for freedom and independence, my constant explosion of emotions and mood swings that made her concerned that I would end up learning certain things the hard way. She realized as quickly as I did, that the only way I actually learn things is the hard way.
My mom made sure I turned into something. That I didn't follow my rebellious teenage fantasies and got lost somewhere in between; that I found myself regardless of how many times I had to lose myself in order to do so. She knew all the fake friends, who would really hurt me and all my bad decisions before I made them and, looking back, she was always right. She allowed me to learn from my mistakes, see the beauty in change and understand the importance of introducing me to the value of growing and evolving. My mom taught me everything I know about change and time, as she also changed and learned about her own timing as I grew older.
My mother taught me all I know about kindness, charm and charisma. She taught me to respect my body and take good care of it because that’s the only one I will ever have. She taught me about honesty, karma, balance, yoga, spirituality — about genuinely being a good soul deep down in your essence. About being mindful even if your mind is full.
But mostly, my mother taught me about love and self-love; to incessantly dedicate your life to the ones you care about, to take care of them and make sure that your happiness is a reflection of theirs. She taught me to always stay true to who you are and what you believe in but unapologetically, no matter the circumstance, to be both a warrior and a queen at the same time.
