Looking for the Happy and Celebrating the Good this Mother's Day {& enter to win $100!}

Now that we’re in between the Mother's Day and Father’s Day season, we owe it to ourselves to walk away from this holiday looking for all the good there is to be celebrated around us.  Look past what may not be the way you like and choose to see the good. The single mom working hard for her family, the new mom trying to figure it all out, the recent grandma experiencing motherhood in a whole new way.  There is still so much to be celebrate should we choose to do so.
I try to choose to continue to celebrate.  That option writes a new story for my boys and their families in the future.  That option sets my family up for joy and hope in our current lives.  That option helps me move into the future and move forward creating happy new memories that will eventually snuff out the less than ideal.   That option allows for grace and the enjoyment of reality despite whether it's picture perfect or not.
A huge key to this method being a success?  Letting go of perfection.  The perfect day just won't happen but you can find perfect moments in the day.  Look at the intention and maybe not the execution.  Let go of ANY expectations and just settle into whatever the day will bring.  Enjoy the handmade cards or short stemmed flowers picked by chubby hands.  
Focus on your ability to be a mother in whatever facet you have been able to do so.  Look around you for mothers who may need a hand or a hug or a card and some flowers.  I have found that focusing on the moms around you and celebrating them, turns Mother's Day into an everyday kind of holiday I want in my life.  Reach out to the friend who has always wanted children, include her in your plans for a day -- celebrate your husband’s Mom or your best friend’s mom for all the ways she has been there for you.  
This Father's Day, find the men who mentor you, father or not.  Find the men who pour into your children with time and attention and celebrate their role.  Some years I have just taken an inventory of the men in my life who are good fathers and sent them a card to say so, whether they "father" me in any way or not.  Look for the men who need a little encouragement and take it upon yourself to do so.  
The way it goes, many of us are not necessarily blessed with amazing parents but if we adjust our approach to these holidays, we will find that we all have something to celebrate.
It all comes down to this....these are YOUR holidays so you can make them be what you want!  You can make the rules and you can choose the focus.  Let’s celebrate all mothers and fathers, every day. There are many and much to be celebrated if we choose to focus on all the ways we are blessed and not on the ways we are not.
We can all dig deep and find the good, because it's there, regardless of our past, our present or our future.
Can you find it?  Who's a mom you'd love to celebrate? A dad? Your favorite memory?
Leave a comment below to enter for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card!
Visit New York Life's Celebrating Good page here to share your own photos and memories, and to see how others are celebrating mothers and fathers, every day. You can also share a photo on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #KeepGoodGoing.
Overlook the hard and look for the happy!
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This sweepstakes runs from 5/14/15 – 6/30/15.
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