Nobody said that being a parent is easy, but this month I’ve had to face one of my toughest challenges yet as a mother. And that experience, that could have left me broken, has instead opened up a whole new, wonderful aspect to my relationship with my children.
I suppose that I am a “seize the day”, “if life gives you lemons” type of person. Often entrepreneurs are. But as a mom I’m also vulnerable. We devote so much love and hard work to our children; they take so much energy, and demand many sacrifices. Sometimes taking care of all that big stuff can mean we lose sight of the little things. I’ve been learning the value of a text message, an unexpected phone call, deep and honest conversations, and what it means to love with no strings attached.
When you run your own business it is natural that work bleeds into your life, and your personal life into work. Some people are more rigid keeping those boundaries up, but I think there can be a great synchronicity between the two. I take lessons I learn from my (sometimes complicated) life and put them to work in my business. So much of life can be wasted on worry, regret, pain and heartache. Of course, some of this is inevitable and necessary for us to learn and grow and be a better person. At the end of the day, what matters most are the people in our lives.
And the reason we celebrate Small Business month each October? Well, I think everyone who takes the spark of an idea and turns it into business deserves celebrating. And those stories can be inspiring for our whole community. Not everyone will want to run their own business, but we certainly benefit from living somewhere that so many people do.
Let’s seize the day and make more lemonade!
