When my husband was three or four, he climbed up onto the top bunk bed in his room and jumped off—fully expecting to fly (though he admits he kept his legs under him…just in case).  Unfortunately, no flight took place that day, poor guy.  I bet everyone has a story like that—a yearning to fly, an unpleasant realization that gravity is no respecter of persons, and most likely a conscious or subconscious decision to avoid pain in the future by giving gravity the awe and respect it deserves.

Now that I’m “grown up” (it makes me laugh a little to write that), there’s a whole new kind of “gravity” with which to struggle.  This isn’t so much a physical pull as it is emotional, mental, and spiritual.  It’s the gravity that counteracts my desire to be more than I am.  “More” does not mean cooler, more popular, or richer to me.  It means being more purposeful, doing things that are meaningful, using every available unit of brain power I possess, developing talents, making a difference, and feeling at the end of the day that I did the very best with what I had.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think everyone has a desire to defy that kind of gravity.  No one wants to get to the end of his or her life and say, “Boy, I really messed that up.”  Whether we realize it or not, we have these feelings because we were made to do important things (not necessarily “cover-of-Time-Magazine” important; more like, “the-world-is-a-better-place-because-we-were-there” important). 

Mothers experience this gravity of the mind more than any other group of people I know.  Children and families, while great sources of love and motivation, require constant attention.  Add to that the nature of mothers’ responsibilities, the way we program our minds, and the way our society is set up, and we’ve got mothers attempting to conquer metaphorical Hulk Hogans if they want to achieve their biggest dreams (or even small dreams that are a big deal). 

The purpose of this article is to spark some thoughts and dialogue that can help us, as mothers, to defy the gravity that tries to keep us down every day.  My hope is that we can see things as they really are and start to reach a little higher.  Once we identify the “gravity” around us, its power is minimized.  Just thinking about these ideas during the past couple of weeks has had a huge effect on my productivity, my happiness, and my family life