How Mothers and Bodybuilding are Alike

Helloo0O Ladies and Gentlemen!

Welcome back to Graceland Ontario, your one stop location for success advice from the greats. Today, in light of Mother’s day a couple days back, we’re going to talk about being thankful for getting to where we are today. And I think some of you might be surprised by what I say.

What’s your earliest childhood memory of your mother? If you’re like me, you probably have a couple. I couldn’t tell you for sure which one was first, but I think it’d be of my Mum driving me while I was in the back of her car, playing with me while I watched TV or at Christmas dinner. I remember as a kid always wanting to impress my Mother because I loved her so much. Sometimes, I felt like I fell short.

But, as you grow older, sometimes it’s easy to get the whole “grass-is-greener-on-the-other-side” mindset, in everything. Now, I’m not saying settling’s good, but all of a sudden you feel like you aren’t enough and others are better. And, many times, mothers become embarrassments you’d rather not show your friends.

Now, first off, I’d like to say after dealing with Mother’s other than mine, I’d take my Mum any day over them. They may seem cooler at first, but you tend to find they make all the “mistakes” your Mum makes while tending not to love you as much.

Whatever your relationship with your Mother, it’s important to realize how much you owe them. Without her, you typically wouldn’t have been born (quite literally) and you certainly would’ve grown up to be a different person. You are indebted to her for the way you are today.

But I hear some of you saying, “my Mother was terrible and I hate her and she made my life a mess”. To that I say, even if she contributed to making your life less than it could’ve been, she’s done something great for you. Instead of directly teaching you how to behave, she’s given you a challenge to overcome. And if you’re here, you’ve probably either overcome or are attempting to overcome it. Like the pain it takes in a gym to forge beautiful muscles, she’s given you a barbell to lift up.

And when you make it, you’ll have taken your life to a whole new level.

So, whatever your current situation or relationship with your mother, be thankful. Challenges are learning opportunities. The person who gave you them, or taught you to deal with them, is the person who helped shape your character most.

As Abraham Lincoln said, “All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother”

So do you.

Alex H.

If you like this post, you might also like these other Graceland Ontario updates:

• Being Thankful for Surviving a Plague of Flying Crocodiles
• Graceland, Ontario: The Only Disability
• Graceland, Ontario: Had a Bad Day? Smell a Rose!
• Graceland, Ontario: Have a Job You Love (or "Don't Do a 'Normal Job'")
• Graceland, Ontario: The Elvisian Diamond Jubilee Special

Had a Bad Day? Smell a Rose!

 

Helloo0O Ladies and Gentlemen!

Welcome to Graceland Ontario, your one stop location for success advice from the greats. Today, we’re going to talk about appreciation.

It’s also my Mum’s birthday, so this one goes out to her.

When, I was young, my Mum and I had very different opinions on certain things. She liked looking at pretty things in shops, I liked buying toys. She liked gardening, I liked watching television. She liked walking for exercise, I liked gluing the rug (no joke).

She’d say, “isn’t that a beautiful flower?” and I’d nod my head before quickly going on to play. I didn’t understand how you could be happy by watching a flower.

But, as years go by, though we still have disagreements once in a while, I’ve come to understand and live by her perspective.

Everything’s beautiful, even in ways we wouldn’t maybe see at first. Everything’s strong, but tender; colourful, sometimes while looking bland; wonderful while coming across as normal.

And, the more I learn about people, that they like to be liked, that they fancy someone who listens and cares about what they say, that they are, in general, inherently good, the more I thank my Mother. You see, she taught me something most people never learn. She taught me how to appreciate good things and, by not much of a stretch, other people.

Now, before you stop reading because this is either sounding way too new age-y for you or just “soft”, wait a sec.

When you appreciate life, others and yourself, you develop true kindness. You honestly enjoy seeing the best in others. Now, I’m not saying you aren’t already like that. But I am saying we’re all a work in progress and that it never hurts to put in a bit more to up your skills. Through appreciation, it becomes hard for us to be put down and hurt for, as Albert Schweitzer said, “Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate”. It helps us become stronger and more likely to go out there and live a full life because we realize at a deep level how good everything is, even the bad. You’ve gotta be part of a world like that. Sitting out is wasting all the beauty and opportunity. When you have that mindset, you realize the bounty open to everyone and, with your deep appreciation of others, it makes it that much easier to persuade and work with other people to fulfill your goals.

I don’t know how you live, but I’m sure you make a similar choice to me in the morning. You decide to have a good day, no matter what, a so-so day, no matter what, or a bad day, no matter what. Chances are, your day will turn out that way simply because you’ll only focus on the information that makes something a “good”, a “so-so” or a “bad” day. You can go, “wow, she’s looking great for eighty” or you can think, “she’s a week away from the grave”. You can breathe deeply and savour the gift of air or you can complain about pollution.

I tell you, whenever I choose the more positive, more appreciative viewpoint, take what my mother taught me and thank God for the smell of roses on a mid-August day, I always, always feel better.

And, from experience, I’ve learnt it’s not just me.

Happy Birthday Mum and talk to you all next week!

Alex H.

If you like this Graceland Ontario post, you might also like these other updates:

• Graceland, Ontario: Elvis and the Photographer: A Story of Gratitude
• Graceland, Ontario: Here's to Thanksgiving Day, Time to Eat, Love and Play
• Graceland, Ontario: They Gave Then, Now It's Your Turn
• Graceland, Ontario: It's Time to Decide...
• Graceland, Ontario: Who Wants to Be Called "Fat"?
• Graceland, Ontario: Welcome to Graceland, Ontario!