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9780767904285
Truth #1 HAVING A CHILD CHANGES YOUR LIFE Your reality is transformed the moment your child arrives. Welcome to motherhood: the single most profound and transformative rite of passage a woman can experience. Of course, there are other major turning points throughout our lives--puberty, graduations, career achievements, marriage--but none can really compare to the experience of welcoming a child into this world and being responsible for its care. Motherhood is the most precious gift as well as the ultimate responsibility . . . and the doorway to the most extraordinary love you have ever known. It stretches you beyond what you ever imagined you were capable of. It can be a source of supreme fulfillment and, at times, a source of some of the deepest heartbreak. To say that motherhood transforms your life forever is something of an understatement. The moment your child is born, your life undergoes seismic changes; however things were before this tiny creature arrived, they certainly are no longer that way. It turns your life, your schedule, your perspective, and your relationships inside out, backward, and upside down. You feel a love that is different from anything you've ever felt before. What mattered before seems less significant as a whole new set of priorities arise, and you experience life in a totally new way. When you assume the new identity of "mother," within an instant your world is never quite the same again. It's difficult to anticipate what will be on the other side of the changes, or what your life will look like after a baby arrives. You can plan, prepare, speculate, and imagine, but what it comes down to is this: no one knows exactly how their life will change when they become a parent. They only know for certain that it will. So many women I've counseled over the years express real fear at the magnitude of the changes a baby can bring. While most of them were thrilled at the idea of becoming a mother--something many of them had dreamt about for years--there were still twinges of fear or even panic when they thought about how much their lives were about to change. One client described it as "nine months on the diving board, not quite knowing what you're about to plunge into." On the flip side of fear lies excitement--even exhilaration. There is the spiritual sense that you are making a contribution to the eternal circle of life, that you are joining the ranks of an honored sisterhood. You are crossing a threshold in your life, and you will now be able to give all you know to another living being. There is anticipation of the rewards: the sweet kisses, the warmth of a grateful hug, precious finger paintings and the glitter Mother's Day cards, the pride of seeing them make strides both big and small. My friend Laura swears she could make millions if she could just bottle and sell the expression of pure delight on her three-year-old's face when she searches and finds her mother among all the other moms waiting outside nursery school. That moment alone makes all the upheaval and change worth it. Motherhood opens the door to a whole new range of experiences. Whether you approach it with trepidation or excitement, it will change your life in more ways than you can imagine. The Rhythm of Your Life When a child enters the world through you, it alters everything on a psychic, psychological, and purely practical level. --JANE FONDA Each of us has a rhythm to our lives. It's the framework we set for the notes we play out each and every day. Whether you are conscious of it or not, you have a specific rhythm to the way you presently live your life. It's what makes you comfortable, and it comprises all the patterns to which you and your mate have become accustomed. You know when and how you take your coffee or tea, what you will do on Saturday night, which movies you plan to see, how much time it takes you to complete your workoCarter-Scott, Cherie is the author of 'Gift of Motherhood 10 Truths for Every Mother' with ISBN 9780767904285 and ISBN 0767904281.
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