The desire to quit exists in all of us. When things get hard, it is easy to just want to give up, and sometimes we need someone to encourage us. To pick us up. To say what we need to hear to keep going. 

I don’t remember how old I was when this story takes place, but I was probably around the age my girls are now, in my tweens or early teens. As I’ve written over the years, growing up we were a musical family. My three siblings and I all played violin. But like anything, to become good at the violin takes time. No one, not Joshua Bell, not Itzhak Perlman, just picks up a violin and suddenly plays at virtuoso level. It takes time, consistency, and lots and lots of practice.

That’s not what we as humans want to hear. We continuously look for magic answers. We don’t want to do the hard work. We don’t want to practice mundane things over and over to slowly get better. We want a magic pass to the end result. 

At some point I just got fed up with practicing the violin. If I was around 12 at the time, then for 9 years there were very few days in my life that I hadn’t played the violin. My mom probably remembers the conversation better than I do, but my recollection is that at some point one morning I just said, “No. No, I don’t want to practice anymore. I want to quit.” And at that point, my mom had some choices. She could have yelled. She could have told me that I had to. She could have made me feel guilty about the time she’d committed to taking me to lessons or to helping me practice or the money spent to pay teachers and purchase instruments.

But she didn’t do that. She sort of nodded and said, “OK, if that’s what you want, then you can quit.” And so I packed up my violin and went to my room where I sat fuming and upset. Because of course I didn’t want to quit. At least not permanently. I just didn’t want to practice right then at that moment. A few hours of moping later, I came out of my room with tears in my eyes and kind of blubbered out, “I really do want to play the violin” and proceeded to get my violin back out to complete my practice for the day.

Mom knew what I needed to hear. I needed a little space to think about it on my own. And to this day, I’m thankful I didn’t quit. I get the opportunity all these years later to play violin duets with my daughters or to enjoy a few minutes alone losing myself in a song.

I’m sure you’ve got a mom or a mom figure in your life who has done the same for you. Someone who has spoken words that were just what you needed and that lifted you up. That’s why this weekend is all about her. If your mom loves her garden, then we’ve got you covered. Check out our Mother’s Day gift guide below, or better yet, bring her out for a day in the garden picking out the flowers that she loves, and maybe you can even plant a little garden together. What better place to get a few extra words of wisdom or encouragement out of mom. Happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms, stepmoms, bonus moms, soon-to-be moms, aunts, grandmothers, and mother figures that are such an important part of all of our lives!