3 Life Lessons I Learned From My Mom

As a kid, I was really lucky to have a family that encouraged me to do my best without letting me take life too seriously.

When it comes to role models, I hit the jackpot with my mom. She has been a guiding light through many of my dark days and is now one of my best friends. While we have an unbreakable bond today, many of the most important lessons she taught me were in my childhood. 
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In honor of Mother's Day, I'm sharing three of the most important life lessons that I learned from my mom!
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1. Stop Making Excuses

I watched my mom put in looong hours at the office and knew I wanted to be just like her. Not only did she rock fitted suits and a chic bob, but there was no question I had ever asked her that she seemed unable to answer.

As an adult, I realize this is way more difficult than my mom made it look. She had to sacrifice a lot of quality time with me and my sister to reach her big career goals, but she never complained and she never made excuses. 
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2. Treat Others The Way You want to Be Treated

My mom has the biggest heart of anyone I know. She's the type of person who brings a neighbor soup when they're sick or picks up your kids from school while you're in the hospital.

I was applying for jobs recently and my old boss passed along a reference she wrote about me. While the entire reference was flattering, there was one section in particular that stood out. 
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She gained the confidence and friendship from the CEO down to the cafeteria servers. It was impressive how she was able to listen to others and know how to work with them.

​I teared up reading that because it's the way, I imagine, many people would describe my mom. I have never seen her treat anyone as 'less than.' It was a great reminder of how many things your children learn from you - not from your words, but from your actions.

​3. If You Want Something, Make It Happen

When my sister and I were younger, we wanted to be in Girl Scouts more than anything. As it turned out, there wasn't already an established troop in our area. For most people, that would have simply meant telling your two daughters 'no.' Not my mom, though.

My mom figured out what we would need to do to start our own troop and we did just that. She even took on the role as our troop leader, guiding a group of Brownies and later Juniors as we went camping, hiking, and even on field trips to places like Hershey Park.

She already had a lot on her plate, but it meant so much to see how she made something happen that we really wanted. In hindsight, this is another trait that my sister and I inherited over the years without realizing it. Now when we want something, we figure out a way.

Sure, my mom taught us the basics too. But the most important lessons we learned from her weren't the ones that she said out loud. The most important lessons were the ones we learned from watching what she did and following that example.

What's the most important life lesson you learned from your mom?