A mother: Transcending the self

Mother’s Day is seen as a day to thank mothers around the world. It is a day for everyone to thank our mothers for their altruistic ideals. We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t have a mother. Mother’s Day brings back so many feelings of sadness and happiness and everyone will spend today with memories of the past, thoughts of today as we all look to the future.
Mother’s day has a long history and tradition throughout the world. The ancient Greeks who, had a custom of mother worship, kept a festival in honor of Rhea, the Mother of the Gods; The ancient Romans, celebrated a spring festival called Hilaria, dedicated to Cybele, the mother goddess; The early Christians celebrated a Mother’s Day of sort during the festival on the fourth Sunday of Lent in honor of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of Christ; In England the holiday was expanded to include all mothers, It was then called ‘Mothering Sunday’. But the modern version of mother’s day is accredited with Ms Anna Jarvis. It is due to the hard work and prolonged struggle of a loving daughter, Ms Anna Jarvis, that this day was declared a national holiday by Woodrow Wilson, the former president of USA. On the other hand, the first idea of mother’s day is USA was given by a poet Julia Ward Howe, in 1872. She had also written a poem “Battle Hymn of the Republic”, in respect and honor of the mothers as well as also written a mother’s day proclamation in 1870.
There are hardly any lines which would best describe a mother. Washington Irving, the 19th century American author, essayist, biographer and historian, has rightly described a mother as someone ‘who is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.’ According to Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, mothers love their children more that their fathers because they suffer more while giving birth and are more certain that they are their own. In the ‘Nicomachean Ethics’, Aristotle compares a mother to the characteristics of friendship. Just like the positive traits which is a pre requisite to promote a healthy friendship, in the same way a mother enjoys giving affection rather than receiving it; she does and wishes good for her child for the child’s sake; she is compared to a person with whom we like spend our time and company and as a person who shares her sorrows and joys with her loved ones. But the most overarching trait of a mother, as Aristotle maintains, is the act out of love for another that transcends the self. For example, a mother who gives up her child to others even though she loves her child insurmountably, so that the child can have a better life, is a true sacrifice of self for the love of another without any expectation of self-fulfillment in return.
Today, I see far too many young people nowadays who either can’t wait to move out of their homes and leave their parents behind to conduct their lives independently and tend to forget that their parents exist, and when they do get out on their own, these young people seem to judge their parents, on how well they did as a parent, but here is the truth: that young person is not a parent themselves yet, and they don’t know what job parenthood entails or why their mothers and fathers make the decisions that they do. They don’t realize that they make those decisions, because they love their children. It really saddens me to see parents, especially mothers, who strive all they can to raise their children to be successful members of society, only to be thrown wayside when that child is old enough and able to make their own lives. To all those young people and young adults out there who disdain from that one special woman who gave birth to you and raised you, and have not been prudent to your mother as you should have, I hope that on this special day, it will be a reminder as to why you should change your outlook towards your mother, because if you don’t treat your Mothers the way she should be, then you’re going to regret it later. One of these days your Mother is going to be gone from your life forever. You won’t be able to visit her to ask her to mend your clothes for you, she won’t be there to come see you when you’re sick or hurt, and you won’t even be able to call her on the phone. At that point there will be so many things you wish you could have done or said, but at that point it will be too late. Please do not let your love and respect towards your mother remain limited only to this day, but remember to carry on through all posterity.
On this momentous day, I wish all the mothers a very happy mother’s day and a big Thank you for all the love you have showered upon us. Today, many of you maybe bequeathed with beautiful presents from your loved ones, but no material gift to a mother can ever equal to the gift which you have given to us, that is the gift of Life.