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Fayette-Mom: Inspiration amid the eye rolls

I feel like an awful person saying this, but sometimes, I just can't help but be a little sick of all the inspirational quotes that seem to be everywhere we look these days.

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Jennifer Joyner
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Jennifer Joyner

I feel like an awful person saying this, but sometimes, I just can’t help but be a little sick of all the inspirational quotes that seem to be everywhere we look these days.

“When life hands you lemons, make lemonade."
“The grass is always greener on the other side”.

“Don’t worry. Be happy.”

I don’t know if my cynicism is born out of my years on the newsroom assignment desk, or if as I get older, my heart gets just a little harder.

Whatever the case, I look at my Facebook feed, littered with quote after quote after quote, and I just feel ….. tired. A little bored. And I ask myself, how can any of these sayings mean anything if I hear them all day, every day? Can we just save them, for like, special occasions, or times of hardship?

I know. That’s pretty bad.

Well, I’m finding now that it’s hard to be a cynic in the face of a 10-year-old, especially when it’s your child, and she and her brother are pretty much your whole world.

My daughter suffered a disappointment recently. I struggled to find the right words, to say the perfect thing to make the tears dry and the corners of her mouth turn up a little. Perhaps I shouldn’t have shunned all of those Facebook postings because I wasn’t having much success.

And then, I watched as Emma did it herself. She was consoled by using, you guessed it, inspirational quotes!

She found them on the Internet. As I read them through her eyes, through her heartbreak, there was no eye roll, no deep sigh. Just …peace. And, when I witnessed the healing power of those quotes, I felt nothing but awe and gratitude.

Here are a few of my favorites:

“Sometimes things have to go wrong before they can go right.“(Positive Minds).
“God’s plans for us are better than anything we could imagine for ourselves.” (God’s Love)

And the one most representative of my girl: “Don’t let anyone ever dull your sparkle.” (unknown)

Just one of the many things I love about being a parent: your children will knock the cynicism right out of you.

But, take note: I draw a firm line at emoticons :-).

Jennifer is a mom of two and WRAL-TV assignment editor in Fayetteville. Her food obsession memoir, “Designated Fat Girl,” came out in 2010. Read more about Jennifer and her book on her website. She writes about motherhood and family-friendly events in Fayetteville here on Go Ask Mom.

 

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