Unleashing Our Inner Steve Jobs: Rule One

I've never sat down and put together a  list of rules for success in motherhood, because, well, to be honest, I don't always feel so successful. Especially at the end of a long day full of impatience, exasperation, let down, and guilt.

But when I see the random acts of kindness performed by my daughters, I like to think that perhaps, somewhere in the minute steps I have taken as their mother, I have been successful.

Steve Jobs lived a successful life by following some key principles.

So for the next seven days I will try to apply his Seven Rules of Success to motherhood...

Rule #1

Do what you love

Okay, so if you haven't figured it out yet, I was kind of an old soul, quirky, artsy kind of girl growing up. Not a loner, but a lover of being alone. In high school I often tried to break the ice at parties by asking someone, "What are you passionate about?" and it didn't take long for me to realize I wasn't the light-hearted, 'let's get drunk,' life of the party. Thankfully the parties carried on with easier topics (I won't say shallow, just a bit more lightweight).

The point is from an early age I was fascinated by passion, eager to discover what made a person passionate and how he or she kindled that flame.

Being a mother is something I always wanted to be. During my first yoga class in high school, our instructor told us to close our eyes and focus on the first image that came to mind when he said the next word. He paused, and said "beautiful." My image shocked my eyelids open. The first image that came to my mind was that of a mother breastfeeding her baby. I wasn't into Home Ec or Early Childhood classes. I was more focused on seeking truths about life through science and art,  and the one thing I didn't like was babysitting. I loved children, just not babysitting. So I had no idea where the image of a nursing mother came from, but I liked that somewhere deep in my brain I knew that was 'beautiful.'

The truth is I never knew how hard motherhood would be. Does anyone?

Despite the challenges it presents, since becoming a stay-at-home mom and writer, I have realized how incredibly lucky I am in life to be able to do the two things I am most passionate about: being a mother and a writer. Every day I witness the beauty of my daughters and I get to write about it.

So perhaps I am successful in Rule #1: I do what I love.