Just a Mom?

So for the past couple of days, I have been reading amazing stories of women- they have broken the ceiling, achieved phenomenal success, and live a truly meaningful life.

As much as I was inspired by these women, I was also a tad blue when reflecting on my own mundane existence.

An educated, well-read stay at home mom- just raising her kids.

No career- from hibernating, it has slipped into an extinct mode

No entrepreneurial initiative- sputter to me if someone asks me what do I do

No volunteering- at children’s school, does it count?

No creative talents- eh?

No hobbies left -I canceled newspaper subscription because there were rolls of them piling on the terrace unopened. Gasp!

Can I ever fit the success criteria?

Can I ever move from my ordinary life to a life well lived?

Can I ever be an inspiring figure?

So in a quest to understand me more, I read about the qualities of successful and illustrious people. Guess what?

We SAHM are high performing individuals - as moms, we have pretty much all the sought after traits that make people good to great.

No?

Yes!

We have clarity:

When we handed that resignation letter,

When we discontinued our med residency,

When we didn’t submit the form for further studies-

We chose to prioritize where we can make our most significant contribution now,

We asked ourselves what matters most right now,

We focused on what’s important to us this moment and stayed on that path.

We are resilient:

Remember one of ‘those days’, wherein we just wanted to throw in the towel, yet we made it to the end.

Yeah, we persisted.

We have self-discipline:

Sleep deprivation- check

Tired to the bones- check

Feeling crappy and crabby- check

Still waking up for school- check

Still managing home- check

Still showing up no matter what- check

We can push our boundaries:

Seriously, pushing aside the limiting views of others is an easy feat for us. When we have a firm conviction of what we can achieve, it’s only a matter of time and effort and loads of discomfort, and voila! We need only to challenge ourselves.

We are courageous:

Being a SAHM is not easy. We battle with loneliness, self-doubt, and low self-esteem. However, we understand that struggling is a natural part of this whole process so we honor it.

And when we choose to talk openly about who we are, about what we are feeling, and about our experiences and acknowledge its necessity to forge our character, we are exhibiting immense courage.

So girl, don’t ever say

I am just a mom

Because we are the example in all those books of success and inspiration.