Last week I asked readers of this column to share their favorite words of wellness that they received from their mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and other women. Readers responded from all around the world (including responses from as far away as China and England). I thank you for the overwhelming number of responses, as now we can all enjoy them. Several of you said you didn’t have a particular Momism to share, but wrote about how your mother or grandmother dealt with challenges in their lives. You explained how the way they lived taught you so much about character, and how they taught these lessons through their actions, as much as through their words. I was truly moved by your many stories.
Some of you wrote about your grief as you miss your mothers and grandmothers this time of year. Mother’s Day can be a hard day for many people, for different reasons, and so my heart goes out to any of you who are grieving this Mother’s Day.
As we pause to remember and give thanks this weekend for mothers, and all the other wise women we have been blessed to know, here are the Momisms you shared. Enjoy! If everyone else jumped off a cliff, would you follow?
You have to be a friend to have a friend.
The answer is maybe, and that's final!
I respect your right to be wrong.
The answer is maybe, and that's final!
Kill ‘em with kindness.
Moms have eyes in the back of our heads.
Be careful who you date because you can fall in love with anybody.
Never leave the house without saying, “I love you.”
You don’t have to like it, you just have to do it.
Self praise stinks.
You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can never fool yourself.
Money doesn’t make you happy, it just allows you to be unhappy in comfort.
Don’t expect more from others than you are willing to give of yourself.
Never look down.
Never look back.
Be an interesting person.
Be thankful you can pay your bills.
If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
I’ve got more time than money.
Remember whose you are.
Upward, ever upward, striving ever for the better things in life.
Dignity, dignity.
Don’t live to eat; eat to live.
It’s that crazy weather (as an explanation when things were going as planned).
Don’t save two trips by carrying everything in one.
Doing it right the first time saves doing it a second time.
Life goes on.
If you don’t do it, someone else will have to.
To each his own.
Go out with anyone who asks you for a date…even nerds have friends.
Always use good judgment, but never be judgmental.
Always cross the room.
To thine own self be true.
If you could just walk in the other person’s moccasins……
Gotta do what you can when you can, cuz we can’t always do what we should when we should.
If you don't feel happy, at least act cheerful and soon you will feel better.
It's not what happens to you that matters, but how you handle it.
Nothing in life comes easy; you have to work hard for everything you get.
Never say never.
Life is hard by the yard, but a cinch by the inch.
Do your best, and then let it go and leave the results to God.
Encomiéndate a Dios (Put yourself in God’s hands/Commit yourself to God).