Mom is the center of each families universe

Like a swing at the fair. (You know the flying swings on a carousel?) The mom has to keep spinning to keep the swings swinging in the air. The center pole, if you will, that the swings are attached to). This is an analogy for life. What if Mom stops spinning? What if mom can’t spin, and the swings stop swinging high? The more the mom spins, the more the swings get higher and higher. Is it not our job to raise our humans? And then, eventually, they evolve beyond us? And hopefully, they spin enough to help their children further fly and grow beyond them…. is this not the goal of life?

Now, what if mom can’t keep spinning? What if her ability to be at the center pole slows down, and those swings can only get slightly higher?

The story’s moral is to do everything to fill up your health and wellness cup to keep spinning. The better you spin, the better your kids can fly. Just do the damn thing.

I look at my personal health and wellness commitment like this. If I neglect my body, I am effectively neglecting my children. If I make poor food choices or spend a night drinking, I wake up less than optimal. It’s not great, and being friendly, kind, and helpful to my kids is hard for me. This is one of the main reasons I gave up alcohol. I am not saying that’s what you need to do. But it is what I did to keep me spinning how I want to be spinning.

I am in Palm Springs and will fly to Orlando tomorrow for a business meeting. I miss my children so deeply. I’m sitting and reflecting a lot about them. So much so I could cry. I just want to give them each a hug. But I do so energetically anyway. Pretending each is a different color string, I attach their heart to mine. And my heart is the center pole, diffusing love into them and spinning, helping them fly. That is the current energetic hug I gave them today. (If that’s too far-fetched for you, I’ll bring it back).

Here’s the thing: when I am in the thralls of motherhood and packing lunches, brushing teeth, and driving them to bus stops, school, and sports. Sometimes, I even forget to give them a physical hug. When I remove myself from them, I realize and reflect on ways to improve them. On this trip, I decided to give them more physical hugs.

I have spoken of this before, but leaving them and being away is hard. But each time I do, I return a better mom, a better business owner, a better leader, a better health care provider, a better human. The reason to leave is usually for growth or to fill my cup, and that pursuit fills my cup so I can keep spinning. At a super fast pace, these babies can fly higher than I could ever get in this lifetime. Is this not the ultimate job of a mother?

What in your life can fill you up so you can spin better? If your physical body isn’t optimal, I venture to say that investing in daily movement habits and probably some pelvic wellness will bring you a whole new level of spin ability. Spin better, and watch those babies fly.

With love,
Dr, Allison