I am grateful to my mom’s health consciousness, sincerity and artistic gifts.
When I was a kid, I did appreciate her sense of beauty, good eye and widespread creativity. It was only much later that I considered myself very lucky to have had a mother who gravitated to healthy food / vegetables and homemade dishes long before it was a trend, no medications – except in emergencies -, who instilled in me the importance of enough sleep, plenty of movement, a conscious handling of finances. My mother’s aggravated sneer at everything “ARTIFICIAL” is legendary. It had a strong impact on me.
I stayed away from “artificial” foods, I do not relate information that I know is dubious or false (I have too much pride in that regard), I pick up when someone is lying and do not listen to people like that. (Mom’s disgusted warning “ARTIFICIAL!” sunk into my subconscious that I hear it when the offers and information are artificial… I can let it stand and move on to something real instead.)
I find it ok to not self-medicate and find a plant-based remedy. And so on.
My relationship to my parents was not always smooth. I spent several years working on my mind in such a way that I only picked thoughts about them that were positive or neutral. Then I discovered that I had plenty of reasons to be grateful for: that I was brought up with plenty of privileges, that both had worked hard to make sure that I had a life of relative safety and a constructive life philosophy. I felt when the energy was shifting between me and them. We get along well today.
My mom tells me often that I came out well.
I can accept the idea that we choose our parents, because I know that with different parents, I would not have been born awake and I would not have developed the strength I have today.
Happy Mother’s Day, Mom. You taught me that I can choose and that I have to choose every day.
NJ
10 May 2020
Nanda Jurela 