A Mother Knows Things - Being Present Matters

In honor of Mother's Day today, we continue on with our A Mother Knows Things series. Today we are focusing on Principle 3: being present matters.

It’s important to be present for others (your family, your pets, your coworkers, the friend who wants to psychoanalyze the events of the day with you). But the real magic happens when you're present for yourself. That’s the game-changer. That’s the catalyst for showing up, shining bright, and not just surviving, but actually enjoying the ride.

Let me take you back to my awkward but determined junior high years in College Station, Texas (home of my alma mater, Texas A&M University). That’s where my love affair with long distance running began. Actually, it was more like a situationship with shin splints. But, somehow, I still decided to join the junior high cross country team.

Our training began before sunrise every school day. We sometimes did fartlek runs (yes, that’s a real thing), which are basically fancy torture sessions where you alternate between sprinting and jogging and wondering why you made the choices you did.

During cross country season, our weekends were spent at meets in the great outdoors running mostly small-town Texas woodlands. From 7th grade through the beginning of 8th grade, I had a pattern. Every race, like clockwork, I’d come in second place. And not just any second—almost first, painfully-close second.

Why?

Because every time I neared the finish line, I’d start glancing behind me. I’d get in my own head worrying about being passed. And, like a self-fulfilling prophecy, my teammate would zoom past me at the last second. Every. Single. Time.

But there was this little voice inside me that said, "You can win this. You’ve got this".

And one day, I listened.

That race, I stayed focused. I didn’t look behind me. I didn’t stress about what anyone else was doing. I was fully present in my race.

I crossed the finish line in first place. Then I did it again. And again. I even got close to breaking a school record (which is still wild to think about).

So what changed?

My mindset.

I stopped running someone else’s race. I stopped letting fear hijack my focus. I showed up fully for myself. And that made all the difference.

This Mother’s Day, here’s a gentle nudge: Be present. Not just for your people, but for you. Because when you’re fully present in your own race, you stop surviving and start thriving.

And yes, fartlek runs are still triggering. Some wounds never heal.