By Mary…
Everyone has heard of the old saying “No Guts, No Glory.” We mostly associate this with life changing decisions. I made such a decision recently when I decided to get my certification and I’m very proud of my accomplishment. But what happens when you are faced with situations where you have the “guts” to make tough decisions, all the while knowing that the “glory” may never come. In the meantime, the effects that these decisions have on your life leaves you with a feeling that your life is spiraling out of control.
I’m a firm believer that there is a bright side to everything that life throws our way but there are times when we just can’t seem to find it. We can’t see the forest for the trees. I think most of us have felt this way at one time or another. Life is hard and it is truly a survival of the fitness, or at least, the mentally strongest. I’ve lived my life with the belief that when you are knocked off your feet, you can choose to either stay down or you can pull yourself back up and keep on going.
As a mother of three, I’ve tried hard not to be overly protective of my children. I don’t come apart at the seems over cuts, scraps, broken bones or broken teenage hearts. Physical wounds are the easy ones. The emotional wounds take a little more TLC, patience and understanding. My kids will tell anyone who asks, “Mom says it will be all healed and gone by the time we’re married.” To some, that may sound harsh but the point behind it is to teach them not to sweat the small stuff. They have learned that life deals you blows and these blows will hurt, but given time those wounds will heal.
Then the day comes when you realize there are situations that you can not fix and battles you are not going to win no matter how hard you try. How do you fight and win a battle that is physically and emotionally stronger that you are? How long do you keep fighting before you make the decision to declare defeat and walk away? Or do you plant your feet firm on the ground and make a “guts without glory” decision?
When did our society stop taking responsibility for their actions? Why is it when a man has an affair it’s called a mid-life crisis, but for a women, she is deemed a home-wrecker? How many times have we heard – Oh, they are just sowing some wild oats…It’s just a phase they are going through…They are rebelling, it’s natural… NO! I don’t believe this. When someone willfully and deliberately does something that goes against everything you believe in and everything you stand for…it is WRONG! They need to be man/woman/teenager/friend enough to stand up and take responsibility for their actions and stop trying to lay blame everywhere else other than where it belongs. It’s called freedom of choice and we all have it and if this freedom is abused then you have to face the consequences of your actions. When did we, as a society, lose our common decency in being able to admit that we made a mistake and take blame for what we have done wrong? When did we become a society intent on blaming everything and everyone else for our own failures and mistakes?
I’ve learned a couple of valuable lessons lately…trust is more fragile than you think and in the time it takes you to inhale your next breath, it can be irretrievably broken. I’ve learned that mistakes made by my children, my husband, my friends, are not mine and I will no longer take responsibility for them, nor will I try to fix them. I’ve learned that it’s ok to declare defeat and walk away. Ultimately, you do the best you can with what life throws at you. I take comfort in knowing that tomorrow the sun will rise again, and with the dawn of a new day, comes the opportunity to pull myself back up
…and I will keep on going.
Copyright © 2011
This content is for personal, non-commercial use only. The use of this content on other websites breaches copyright. If this content is on any other site than www.snandmbe.com it makes the page or post you are viewing an infringement of the copyright.
8 comments