This week in my neighborhood there has been an extraordinary amount of bunny poop on the sidewalks. For several days during my walks, I would stare at the ground, careful to avoid stepping in it.

The Poop

On a mother-son walk last night I told my teenager, "Watch out for the poop!" He told me he always does, but as we walked, and I was flawlessly avoiding it, I could see that it was not his biggest concern. Just like a typical teenage boy, he stepped on a little here or there and wasn't too concerned.

I tried not to cringe and made sure he left his shoes outside.

On today's morning walk, I realized that for the past few days I had been staring at poop. I certainly didn't want to step in it, so I was diligent in watching my step. A funny thing happens when all you do is stare at the poop; in an effort to avoid it, you end up focusing everything you have on it - perhaps missing everything else the walk has to offer.

The Scoop

I want you to visualize for a minute some pebbles of bunny poop on the sidewalk. Compare the size of it to the size of the sky, the trees, the people walking around you and everything else in your sight. It's tiny. However, if you are constantly staring at it - it's all you will see.

In motherhood, we want so badly to do a great job with our kids. We want to avoid the stinky mistakes of motherhood at all costs. Maybe we even teach our kids to avoid the smelly pebbles of mistakes. The problem is, if you focus on all of the poop in life, it really STINKS.

The lessons buried in a pile of mistakes

The fear of mistakes plagues mothers and robs them of peace and joy in motherhood. Being a mom is a much more enjoyable experience when you can accept that your shoes WILL get a little dirty with mistakes. Guess what? You can wash them.

If there is a really big mud puddle on the sidewalk, of course, you will focus on avoiding it. But then, lift your head and be a mom who makes mistakes every day.

If you are TRYING, you are making mistakes. If you are succeeding, then you have also failed. Success cannot exist without failure. Failure is how we learn, grow and improve and ultimately how we succeed. The less we fear failure, the more we can allow it to happen. The more failure happens, the more SUCCESS you will experience.

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