Sunday is Mother’s Day and I can’t think of anyone I’d rather start My Heroes blog posts off with than my Mum and everything I love best about her (that makes her a formidable Mentor). I thought it might be fun to guess some of her top CliftonStrengths from 50+ years of observing her natural patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving. At a later day, I’ll get her to do the CliftonStrengths test and see how I go.
EMPATHY
I would be willing to bet that my Mum’s top strength is Empathy. She has this natural ability to both understand and feel how you’re feeling. She naturally knows what will make you comfortable and remove your distress. I will never forget the time when we were preparing for our wedding. We were going completely DIY, including the wedding cake. It decided to flood the week of our wedding, the humidity was at 100%. We were working together when my sister-in-law came in to inform us the fondant was sliding off the bottom tier of the cake…I lost it. It had been a long prep over a very short time and I completely lost it. Tears galore. My Mum instinctively knew what was needed and set about easing my distress. She succeeded to the point where I was able to compose myself and continue. It is a bit of a frivolous example of her empathy which has extended to people in the depths of severe depression, illness, and grief. Her career as a nurse was both natural and extremely successful because of her empathy.
BELIEF
My Mum believes. She has core values that are unchanging and out of these values flows a defined purpose for her life. She believes in the Creator God and daily commits her life to His service. She believes in service as a way of life. She believes in a very clear right and wrong, in fairness and justice, mercy and compassion. She believes in her kids (thank goodness!) I wouldn’t be doing this strengths coaching business if it weren’t for her input. Both she and my husband (who has Belief in his top 5) believed in me and in my power to do great and good things in this world and propelled me to action.
INCLUDER
My Mum is an includer. She accepts others and is aware of those who feel left out and makes an effort to include them. The medical practice she worked in was in an area with a high percentage of older folk, many of whom would come to the practice for some social contact more than physical ailment. She went above and beyond, helping people get connected, being a “Mum” to the practice team. She is never happier than when all the family are together and she has welcomed all of our spouses and friends into the fold.
RESPONSIBILITY AND CONSISTENCY
Mum always takes psychological ownership of what she says she will do. She is committed to stable values such as honesty and loyalty. Responsibility in combination with Consistency are a formidable strengths duo! I remember the time she took on a sewing contract (on top of everything else she had going on!!). Mum’s a bit of a perfectionist and each garment had to be done perfectly. Now, we all know that level of perfection is not conducive to churning out lots of sewing, she was lagging behind. She would stay up all night to deliver on time. She has always kept her word to my Dad and we kids. It is such a comforting cocoon to know that someone is so consistent in their love and care of you, even if you (who has consistency in the very last place in her strengths profile) are a bit slack…ehem… It did also meant that she was fury if we were found to have welched on our responsibilities, thanks Mum!
ARRANGER
My Mum is an arranger. I wish you could see her pantry, cupboards, and the treatment room she was responsible for at the practice. Immaculate! She also beautifully organises humans, as my Dad, brothers, and I know well. She is the one who writes the lists, ensures the supplies are secured, delegates the responsibilities and makes sure no one is slacking. Let me tell you a story. My brother and his wife were moving, and Mum had “rallied the troops” to help them. She’d prepared all the food and drinks to keep us going and was in full flight, organising rooms and packing boxes. I was a super new Mum at the time. I guess my girl was about 4 weeks old. So Moni and I duly put her into her new capsule and drove 1 ½ hours to help. All was going swimmingly until it was time for a nappy change. To my horror (remember the first baby nerves?) I’d forgotten the “baby survival bag”. On the verge of tears (post-baby hormones!), Mum whips out this baby bag with everything you might need to survive a week with a new baby. She laughed, Moni laughed, and I reddened and laughed with relief. That was many years ago, but it is one of those things that has gone down in family lore and will never be forgotten.
I would love to say much more in praise of this exceptional lady, but I’d have to write a book. She has been one of the biggest blessings I ever could have been gifted, I hope I’m as great a blessing to the people around me as she is.
HAPPY MOTHERS’ DAY MUM,
AND TO ALL YOU MOTHERS WHO LOVE US,
MAY YOU BE BLESSED WITH EVERY POSSIBLE BLESSING.