Perseverance....Resilience....& Courage.

“Nothing is more beautiful than the smile that has struggled through the tears.” -

I’m writing this as I’m in awe of someone very dear to me, who recently graduated. While for some this may not seem a big thing to trumpet, they have had many stumbling blocks along the way, and every time they have had the Perservence, Resilience, and Courage to carry on.

The level of resilience that has been shown to fight through the fog of these challenges, hurdles, self-doubt (seeing themselves as a total F**k Up a lot of the time - to me they were always My Perfect F**k Up), and the negative judgment of others, just to keep believing they could accomplish this is totally awe-inspiring to me.

“Do not judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”
— Nelson Mandela

It takes enormous courage to keep going when it would have been so easy to say “It’s too hard” and settle for something less. No one would have judged them for stopping, but they would have, and hence found the courage to keep on what has been a 20-year journey. As they said to me the other day while waiting -

“I did this for ME”

and there is no better reason for doing it. The pride in their voice and the glow on their face at their triumph over adversity is absolutely priceless to me.

The example that has been shown to others can not be underestimated. They have managed to raise through this time the most amazing wee human, one who is full of compassion and at times wisdom well beyond their years. I believe as a parent our biggest challenge is to raise good Humans and they are definitely doing that.

All I can say is everything has been worth it all the ups, downs & sideways that we have been through. The joy of watching one of mine succeed over everything that life has thrown is beyond words… it is everything to me, a Mother.

I am so very very proud of MY Perfect F**k Up they are everything and more than I could have hoped for and I look forward to watching them continue on their life journey with Joy and Excitement knowing there will be ups and downs but they will triumph because they have Perseverance, Resilience, and Courage.

I should say that COG and siblings have also been there every step of the way and feel enormous pride in their achievement, but this is my story so just know they were there.

Perseverance, Resilience, and Courage are rewarded…there was a wonderful saying in one of my favourite movies, the movie “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” ……

“Everything will be alright in the end…So if it’s not alright….It’s not the end.”

I had this written on my wall to help me when I was struggling to keep going, to keep holding on to my belief that they would triumph over all the adversity that life was throwing at them. It has become one of my wee mantras as I move through life, it allows me to stop take a breath and keep going, knowing that when things don’t go right, it’s not the end.

“Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional.” – Roger Crawford.

I wish you all the the strength to face life and triumph over the adversity that comes your way knowing - “ If it’s Not All Right, It’s Not the End.”