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Saturday, January 29, 2011

Processing Emotions part 2

Well I left off on Thursday, so that is where I'll pick up.
  Processing challenge #2......Just after I got off the phone Thurs. evening with Hubby my daughter called. I hear her sobbing and I hear the hurt and confusion in her voice. Every maternal instinct when on high alert. She and her husband's marriage has not been on steady ground for sometime. Anyway, she called and told me about the fight they just had and how she was feeling. She wasn't sure if her marriage was over,or what to do. Needless to say my heart was breaking at this point because she lives so far away and all I wanted was to be there for her. I spent time talking to her on and off through out the evening.
  Okay here is the challenge, her father and I did not have a pleasant divorce. My own feelings of hurt and mistrust were present. I had a ton of automatic negative thoughts. I know that  past experiences do not predict the future. So how do I leave my fears in the past and be neutral for my daughter. I know that she is smart, an amazing mother and has the ability to take care of herself and her daughters. My instinct is the need to "fix it" for her, yet I know that I can't "fix it" for her. I want to keep her from getting hurt or having to feel the emotional pain of a struggling marriage. Plan and simple I want to protect her from all things that would hurt her. I know that this is completely not what I would, or even could, do in reality. I have to understand that this is her life and her time to learn.
     Yes I am learning also, because I have to put my past aside so that I can be there for her. My past is just that mine and it does not determine her future. I need to trust that she will take the time to look at the larger picture and make a decision that is right for her and her girls. She has a lot of support and is wonderfully smart. I have to trust that I did my job as a mom and that I have given here the tools she needs to make the tough decisions. I have to trust her, and me.

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