love letters

Dear Em,
A couple weeks ago someone asked me what drives me. I was taken aback. I guess I never really thought of it. I think I mumbled & put together some incomprehensible sentences. The question has stayed with me, & I've thought a lot about it since then.

I grew up in a home where my parents asked for my very best. Sometimes I thought they wanted me to be perfect, & I struggled with that. It stung when I felt that I failed to live up to perfection. Now that I'm grown with a child of my own, I see that they just wanted my very best. The only times when I know my parents were disappointed in me were not in times that I failed, they were the times that I failed to give it my all. They knew that if I always did my very best, I could do great things. This is what drives me, knowing that when I do my very best, great things can happen.

I've worked with a lot of great leaders. One of them showed a group of us a video that will stay with me for always. He was in the middle of challenging us to do more, to be more. Many of us, myself included, were probably thinking, "how much more can we do?" We were facing hard times in our industry, & our demanding goals continued to rise.

He asked us to "do [our] very best." He asked us this, & he showed us this video. Maybe it's because I'm a wicked big football fan, maybe it's because it's what I needed to hear. In challenging times, my thoughts continue to drift back to the words of this video.

I will never ask you to be perfect or not make mistakes. "Experience is what you get when you don't get what you expected." Failure is an important & valuable part of life. But I hope in life you will always "do your very best." I hope you will do your best, & know that there is nothing you can't do and no place you can't go when you put your heart & mind to it. So, I hope in this life you will give it your all.

I love you so,

Mommy