
10 Pieces of Advice from My Mom to You! by Lindsey Turnbull & Pat G.
My mom’s birthday is coming up and instead of just wishing her a happy birthday, I put her to work. Just kidding! Kind of. I wanted to celebrate my mama and share some of the wisdom she’s gained. I told her I was giving her the mic and asked her:
What advice would you give to young women?
And she said:
- Give back or volunteer. You can make a real difference in someone’s life.
- When it comes to strangers, or people you don’t like, try to find one good thing about them, or one thing you have in common.
- Use your parents, relatives, elders, and adults you trust/respect as a resource. Chances are, if you are going through something, they have been through something similar. Learn about them and from them. Don’t be afraid to open up!
- Believe in yourself and your power!
- You are a gift and you are perfect the way you are. Don’t be afraid to be yourself.
- Stand up for what you believe in.
- Be true to yourself and love yourself.
- Be kind to yourself and others.
- Forgive people.
- Don’t worry so much about the little stuff, really. Ask yourself if it’s really going to matter in 6 months, a year, five years.
And my personal favorite, a bonus for you:
- Shine bright and reach for the stars!
My favorite part about this is how similar some of our advice is. I guess I had absorbed it without even realizing! I swear, the “Ask yourself if it’ll matter” piece is almost WORD FOR WORD in the Girl’s How-To Guide to Authenticity, which my mom hasn’t read, and came out before I asked her this question. I guess this goes to show everyone out there that parent’s messages do sink in, even when we’re rolling our eyes
Happy birthday Mom!
Related Reading
Advice to my Little Sister by Amina Ahmad
Myths from The Body Image Book for Girls: Love Yourself and Grow Up Fearless by Charlotte Markey