“Motherhood: All love begins and ends there.”
—Robert Browning—

I believe the majority of the greatest lessons we learn in life come from our mothers. Not all of us have the fortune of a good mother’s wisdom, but most of us have experienced wonderful lessons from strong motherly figures somewhere along the way.

For years, I have written about how our parents teach us how we want to be and how we don’t want to be. I stand by this and firmly believe both are equally important lessons. Of course my mother had some ways and traits that taught me how I did not want to be, but her positive lessons far outweigh those.

My mother is 92 years old, and I couldn’t be more proud of her.
She is a rock star.
Unfortunately, I am one of the few who thinks so.

Having an elderly mom has brought to my attention how much the elderly are discarded and disrespected by society, people, and especially young people. I realize some—maybe most—92-year-olds have declined cognitively and physically, but my mom is still sharp. However, most people treat her like she has no idea where or who she is. When I take her to the doctor, they ask me the questions. I tell them to ask her, she’s right here. But there is another problem, she will describe her ailment or pain and they don’t believe her. I’m not saying they don’t check it out and send her for the proper tests, they just make her feel like she isn’t in touch with her own body.

“Our bodies and souls
are our gardens to which our
wills are gardeners.”
—William Shakespeare

I can’t help but smile as I drive around daily seeing the colorful, visual explosion of red bud trees, Bradford pears, tulips, snapdragons, azaleas, and all the glorious blooms of the season. This is my favorite time of the year. It’s when we all come out of our shells on Doldrums Lane and shake off the heaviness of winter to open up to the power of sunshine and nature. It is the time of year when growth likes to show out a bit, bloom fully and bask.

Ah. It almost appears that I am no longer talking about flowers, and indeed I’m not. I’m talking about personal growth—something just as beautiful and exciting as spring in full bloom!

Mother Earth has been making the talk show rounds in the
United States leading up to Earth Day on April 22.
Of course, she spoke of her relationships with both the sun and the moon,
and how they enjoy working together. “The three of us know it couldn’t work without each other. That’s why we get along so well. They really light me up!”
Mother Earth said.

After much chit chat about her favorite trees, her most recent storms and her explanation of why the sky is blue, she made sure to let every town, village and city across the world know that she loves them and wants the best for them. While Mother Earth made it clear she is a huge advocate of Earth Day celebrations all over the world and appreciates everyone taking a moment to remember her, she also made it clear, “It isn’t that complicated.”

“If you’re going to change a habit,
you must be the treatment.”
—Dr. Wayne Dyer

We have all heard the definition of insanity— doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. That may well be true, but doing the same thing over and over and getting the same result is a habit, and habits keep us moving in the same direction.

One of my favorite quotes that I live by is “Change your attitude, change your world.” However, this month’s theme is about healthy habits, not attitude, so when I stopped to deeply think about habits—both good and bad—I realized my favorite quote works just as well when adapted to “Change your habits, change your world!”