We all need to fight against barriers
Did you know that more phone calls are made on Mother’s Day than any other day of the year?
It’s amazing how a national holiday full of sentimental commercials and stores decorated pretty in pink can guilt folks into spending time with or loving on the mother(s) in their lives. Ha ha! OK. I kid. But for some of you, you know that I am telling the truth. You didn’t even remember it was Mother’s Day until you went to Walmart and saw all of empty card slots in the card display. What!?! Too soon!?! My bad. Well if it makes you feel any better, I was there too. Yeah, I was there…at Walmart…on Sunday morning. I had to grab a few last minute additions to my gifts. Don’t judge.
Anyway, how many of you took time to celebrate a mother in your life? It didn’t have to be your own mother or grandmother or stepmother. It could’ve been an aunt, a cousin, a friend, a co-worker, the lady at the bank, a lady from church, anyone. I hope that you took some time out of your day to honor a mom. I mean think about this way. If she is a biological mom, at the very least, she carried and most likely pushed a melon size human being from her body. Just sayin. That’s some rockstar stuff right there. Song break. “Put your hands in the air and wave them like you just don’t care. Gina Marie is in the house and she just pushed Christian out so somebody say oh yeah!” Or better yet, if she didn’t give birth to you or to anyone else for that matter, that means she is loving on you just because she is awesome. Wow! She is giving of herself because she understands motherhood and what it means to love. That’s deep.
I was fortunate to spend Mother’s Day celebrating two pretty awesome women — my mom and my stepmom. We didn’t do anything super spectacular, but they were celebrated. A few days before, I celebrated my own motherhood. As a member of the “Listen To Your Mother,” Pittsburgh’s inaugural cast, I shared my story of motherhood with 300 of my closest friends. It took nearly 17 years to reach that stage and I did my best to explain the ride.
On Friday, May 8, I joined 12 other women at Pittsburgh’s inaugural “Listen To Your Mother” show. LTYM is national show, very similar to TEDx, but all about motherhood. Each of us were charged to develop a five-minute speech and perform it. I barely survived. I am so serious. This was the most difficult public “thing” I’ve ever done. I was so nervous that I spent most of the prep time in the bathroom…and I wasn’t putting on my makeup. I couldn’t get it together. I can’t even get it together right now…and the show is over. I mean…it was great. We were all great. But leading up to that point, I was freaking out. I had never shared my “why” before and had never done it in front of my “inner circle.” Let me set the scene for you. My mom, my son and his girlfriend (yeah — he has one of those — and thank God she is a good girl), my love, my aunts, my closest friends from near and far. Making A Change girls and mentors were also sprinkled throughout the audience. I was seated on the stage with 12 beautiful ladies who each had awesome, powerful stories to share. I was placed right in the middle. The center of the pack. I wasn’t first and I wasn’t last — that’s good. But I was wearing a dress and super high heels — not too bright on my part. I don’t ever wear heels. And the night that I was going to wear them I have to give a speech on a national platform? Foolishness. I am definitely going to fall. Cue freak out mode.
It’s funny. I speak to thousands of people each year. Training them, teaching them, working with them, helping them discover their purpose so that they can ignite their passion and pursue it. But this…this LTYM thing…it challenged me more than anyone will ever realize or could ever understand. Mark Twain said that there are two important days in your life. The day that you are born and the day that you discover why. Participating in LTYM required me to share my why. That passion started over 17 years ago when I found out that I was pregnant with my son Christian. My story of teen parenthood isn’t a new story — its not really that big of a deal. But because of Christian, I was propelled to succeed on a road that led me to advocate for, motivate and develop youth as leaders and thinkers. He is the why I exist. He is the why I became who I am. He is the why I keep falling and getting back up.
Speaking to strangers and sharing transformational growth strategies is a breeze compared to talking about my “why.” It took me four months to write, perfect and present this piece. It took four months for five minutes — I still can’t believe it. I can’t believe how much time and energy was required of me for this one moment. All of the hard work, the practicing and the “breaking-through” paid off. Conquering my fear and pushing through blessed me and (according to the ovation, follow up emails, and social media posts) it blessed many others as well.
What fears are you currently facing? What battles are you working to win? What steps are you taking to overcome these barriers? I want you to remember that no matter what you are facing and no matter how long it takes you to overcome it, you have the power to do it! (Mark 11:24) You must fight. You must keep pushing. (Psalm 46:1) You must believe in you. Your “why” is too important for you not to fight.
Fight through the pain. Fight through the fear. Your fight is not just for you.
It might be for your child or maybe even me.
You never know who your story might touch. Push through, my friends. Push through. (Luke 17:21)
Gina Jones is a life-long resident of Fayette County and serves the community as an encourager, educator and advocate. Learn more about Gina at www.gmarieproductions.com.