She Taught Me That

My son has a fear and anxiety issue when it comes to certain things. As an adult sometimes we forget what it is to be a child and how real their fears can be.... or have we? We often blow off their over-the-top fears as silly childhood worries that could never possibly happen... scary fake stuff they see on t.v., the fear of someone stealing them in the middle of the night, the fear of someone hurting them, the fear of being laughed at, the fear of failure to the extent that they won't bounce back, the fear of dying, the fear of loosing loved ones, some of this will happen and some of it never will. As parents it is our job to minimize their fear with out belittling their fear if you know what I mean. It is "real" to them.

Over the weekend we went up to the cabin with some friends and the boys were exposed to a show that us adults were watching about some crazy phenomenons where these "stick people" came up out of the ground and were walking around. They were a little freaked out and laughed about it the next morning... but really the affects of these things are real. Last night Paxton's fear was real, he was super upset and wanted to sleep with us. I could not get him to realize that not only was this a silly notion and not real, that he was protected by God, looked over  by my mom, his Bushie, from Heaven, protected by his very in-tune with what is going around him- watch dog Ryker that sleeps in his bed, but he wouldn't have it. He was truly scared. In my adult mind it seemed so silly! However, I knew to him it was real. We prayed, I sang to him, I told him a happy story... nothing seemed to be working. And then I remembered how my mom would relax me when I couldn't sleep...a technique I don't use often enough.

 I reached in my soul and pulled her out! She may not be here to physically help me or answer the questions I have... but she is still here. In me! She taught me a lot and I can summon her goodness, her love, her example any time I want! The technique I used worked! He was relaxed from head-to-toe as I poured peace and love into his little body laying next to me in his own bed, he took his finger to his lips, told me he felt calm and I could stop talking now.. 

As adults we still have fears, fear of death, fear of loosing loved ones, fear of failure, fear of not fitting in, of disappointing someone, fear of finances, fear of getting hurt... and on and on! When was the last time someone helped us calm down with such a simple relaxation exercise... I can do this for myself, I can bring relaxation and peace, I can call upon God to protect me and my parents to watch over me and pull them out of my soul to remind me "do not fear." You got this. You can find peace and happiness no matter where you are, you can control your thoughts and calm your mind! Yes, yes, you can. 

Thank you mom for all those years of exercises that you taught me that I can use to help my son combat his fears, I hope that what I am teaching him he will be able to use someday for his children... whether I am here or not to help his children calm their fears. Feelings are neither right nor wrong, they are feelings that all of us have from time to time, it is how we deal with those feelings that make us strong and  courageous individuals!