I remember dr. Wayne Dyer saying in one of his teachings:
“Raising your children, is making kind, strong, loving, independent individuals out of them,
and then comes the hardest part… Enjoying your success as a parent…”
And that really is the hardest part.
We all enjoy seeing them grow up.
We are so proud when we see them becoming independent.
We are so happy noticing that we start learning from them.
We are reassured when we see them making a life for themselves, so that we know, once we are gone, they will have a beautiful life.
But then the moment comes, when they announce,
they are moving out,
they are going abroad to work, to study,
they are not coming on family vacations anymore,
they are getting married,
and so on.
And those are all good things, but in our hearts, we feel a little sad too.
Our job of raising them is done.
I know:
we will always be there as their support when needed,
we will always love them,
they will always have a place to come home to,
but the day-to-day care is over.
And that is hard in the beginning.
Whenever I feel this melancholy bubbling up, I repeat the words of dr. Wayne Dyer: …and now enjoy your success….
It helps, it’s a process, it takes a while but I am getting there.
I also compare ‘letting my sons fly into their future’, with my work in the wildlife center. We get all kinds of wild animals in our care: from young newborns who lost their mom, to wounded animals, weakened animals, and even confiscated animals from ‘bad’ zoos, circuses and even illegal private owners. We do our utmost best to get them healthy and strong again. Our biggest success is when they are ready to be released in the wild again. (Of course, some animals will never be able to survive in the wild anymore, and then we look for a good zoo or sanctuary for them, but that is another story). And then I have that same double feeling: a kind of sad happiness. I am thrilled to see them run away, fly away, but at the same time, something tugs at my heart: “Will they be okay, will they be able to find their food, what will happen to them now that they are on their own…?”
But that is how life goes, everything keeps evolving, everything keeps changing. And that is exactly what life is.
Life is change,
Change is life.
My blog this week is a big hug to all of us moms, to all the parents, who see their young ones fly out, leaving the nest, as I do at this very moment.
Just remember:
Be proud you gave them strong wings to fly.
Trust them to find their path.
Encourage them to explore life, to discover the world.
Give them all the love you have, and they will know they will always have a home to come back to.
And now, it’s up to us, parents, to find ways to enjoy our new found ‘freedom’.
There is always a positive side to everything, so here too.
Where we didn’t have time to do things because of our family life, now we have a whole new ‘time schedule’.
It takes some getting used to, but we’ll get there. You will see that there are positive things coming our way.
Thank you all for reading me and for supporting me on Medium! If you want unlimited access to all of my articles and many other authors, you can become a Medium Member and you’ll be supporting me and all the other authors. Many, many thanks to you all!!!
Katrien