Motivation Mondays Archives | Little Kids GrowLittle Kids Grow

Motivation Mondays: Love Talk

June 10, 2013 by | 0 comments

Whoa Hoo! I thought that title might get your attention.

(Altogether now)

L-O-V-E T-A-L-K

Ha! Ha!That’s fun to say.

I’ll be honest with you, when I think about the phrase “love talk”, I think about my sweetie pie hubby or those times when I cuddle with my kids and tell them how much mommy loves them. It makes them feel good to hear loving words, and it makes me feel good to say them! But what about ourselves? What kind of self-talk do you have going on in your head? Are your thoughts toward you loving and kind or are they hateful and mean? Do your thoughts sound more like:

Motivation Mondays is a weekly series posted at www.motivationmondays.org. I talk from a Christian perspective about my past struggles as well as triumphs in the hope that just as others have helped me along the way, my readers will find something beneficial to carry along with them throughout their week. I believe that community is important as well as honesty and transparency. Want to chat? Send me an email: littlekidsgrow (a) gmail (dot) com. My welcome mat is always at the door.

Motivation Mondays: The Inadequacy Monster

May 20, 2013 by | 0 comments

It was early.

Way before the sun came up.
The whole house was asleep, except for me. I was in a spare room, with the door closed, lights out, tears streaming down my face. Praying.

“GOD, this is so hard! Why do I feel like I”m failing in almost every area of my life?”

Somehow life as I knew it had turned inside out, and I was now just a spectator trying to make sense of it all.

Motivation Mondays is a weekly series posted at www.motivationmondays.org. I talk from a Christian perspective about my past struggles as well as triumphs in the hope that just as others have helped me along the way, my readers will find something beneficial to carry along with them throughout their week. I believe that community is important as well as honesty and transparency.Want to chat? Send me an email: littlekidsgrow (a) gmail (dot) com. My welcome mat is always at the door.

Motivation Mondays: Mom Power

May 13, 2013 by | 2 Comments

Happy “Day After” Mother’s Day!

I am thankful for Mother’s Day. It’s the one time in the year that I can sit back and reflect on what it is that I really do. I’m always so busy that sometimes it’s hard to take in all that my “job” entails. Sometimes I look around and think, “I’m never gonna figure this out”. And then other times, I get an unexpected hug or snuggle from my kids and think, “Ahh, I must be getting something right”.

But those moments of reflection are few and far between because I’m just surviving, doing what I have to do to make things work. It’s nothing special. I don’t believe that there’ s anything in me that makes me more capable than the next mom to juggle kids, husband, career and life. I just function in the “now” and pray for the best. Honestly. That’s it.

I’m pretty sure it’s the same for you, my reader moms out there. We’re survivors. We’re intuitive, quick on our feet, able to leap over toy soldiers in a single bound. We may not wear an “S” on our chest for everyone else to see, but to do what we do on a daily basis has to be classified as super human in someone’s universe.

I am honored to be called a mom.

We are a special breed.

You can find the full article on my site Motivation Mondays.

Have a great week!

Keep doing what you love,

Shannon

Motivation Mondays: Playing Nicely with the Enemy (Wuh?????)

May 6, 2013 by | 4 Comments

As a freshman in high school, I was tormented almost daily by a girl that I didn’t know. She absolutely hated the ground that I walked on—I’m pretty sure of it. For the longest time, I didn’t even know her name, but she sure knew mine and every chance she got, she made sure that everyone else knew my name, too.

I’ll admit to you (now that I’m older and out of “danger”) that I was scared. I thought the girl was crazy! Seriously.

Eventually I shared my fears with my mom who gave me some advice that I’ve carried with me ever since:

“Kill her with kindness”.

(Wuh? Was my mom trying to get me beat up? Ha! Ha!)

Thankfully, as strange as her advice sounded to me that day, I listened to her, and it worked out in my favor.

Being kind toward those who are less than eager to return the favor has very little to do with them but everything to do with us. When we allow people to get to us, they get into our heads. We become distracted. We lose our focus. We become ineffective. They break us down.

That’s what enemies do. (Surprised?)

When we stand our ground, maintain our peace, and respond to their behavior from a position of strength, we gain the upper hand.

Here’s the thing. Everyone is not going to like you, or me, or anyone else for that matter. And once we really come to terms with that, our skin becomes thicker. We’re able to take the personal out of it and move forward.

It’s not always easy, but salvaging our peace is worth the effort.

You can find the full article (and what happened to that bully) on my site Motivation Mondays.

Have a great week my friends!

Keep doin’ what you love!

Shannon

Motivation Monday: Pushing Past “Go!”

April 22, 2013 by | 3 Comments

I talk a lot about living with purpose and never allowing circumstances to hinder your progress. I’ll tell anyone that will listen that life is short, so you have to just “get out there” and make it happen.

Sadly, it occurred to me this weekend that I don’t take my own advice. Yep, motivation looks pretty good on paper.

There are so many things that I want to do in this life that sometimes I get overwhelmed and I freeze. It feels like I’ve spent a lifetime sitting at a red light waiting for it to turn green so I can finally move forward. I’ve anticipated taking my foot off the break and accelerating, but something strange has happened. In all that waiting, I’ve forgotten what it feels like to drive, to move, to shift into gear. The attention is no longer on the light in front of me but all the other things going on around me. Cars going in the opposite direction. Life passing me by. I’ve rolled my window down and stuck my head out the window and yelled, “Hey, what’s the hold up?”, only to find that the car in front of me has stalled and the light has turned red again. My anticipation has shifted into 3 shades of a yellow caution light: fear, doubt, and maybe tomorrow.

I’m sitting on some projects right now. I’m so excited about them because they include *you*! It’s just taken me 3 or 4 months to drum up the courage to put them out there. Crazy, huh?

Well, no more! I’m staring fear in the face this week by getting out of the slow lane and shifting this car into drive! Ha! Ha!Ha!

Stay close. I hope to share a little bit of what I’ve been up to in the next few days.

What has you stuck right now?

Keep doin’ what you love!

Shannon

Motivation Mondays is a series that I started to share encouragement with moms. I use my past struggles as well as triumphs as a backdrop for my writing in the hope that just as others have helped me along the way, my readers will find something beneficial to carry along with them throughout their week. I believe that community is important as well as honesty and transparency.Want to chat? Send me an email: littlekidsgrow (a) gmail (dot) com. My welcome mat is always at the door.