Dear sensitive mama—your empathy is what makes you so strong

Self-care is the last thing on your to-do list. A shower is often a quick rinse. You stay up at night thinking about everything and anything—what you need to do tomorrow if the baby will finally crawl, and how your little is going to adjust to separating.

Because separating! I won’t even get you started on that. You have actual nightmares about that because you know no one is going to take better care of your child than you .

And what if another child is mean and you aren’t there to make it better? You think about these things constantly because, to be honest, the world scares you.

Yes, this tough world has broken your sensitive heart at times and you don’t want your kids to ever experience that kind of pain— the kind that has made you feel hopeless, that has made you question everything. That is, until you had children. Then they became your hope—your everything.

You let others’ pain flow through you—so when your child feels sad, well… that takes you to another level. It’s like an electric current shooting through your body—you MUST make her feel better or BOOM! —you will combust.

It’s hard not to notice how your whole face contours, a crinkly crease developing in your forehead with worry when she cries. It’s hard not to see the fire in your eyes looking at the path you must fight in her honor when you need to protect her.

You can handle the most because you feel the most. That experience gives you insight into others’ pain. This incomparable empathy not only extends to your own children, but to other moms as well.

I see you reading all of the mamas in a classroom trying to make everyone feel welcomed. You don’t want anyone to feel left out. I see you listening so intently as other mamas tell you their problems. Your eye-contact is strong, locked in, and you are engaged so deeply in conversation. You care for them and it’s evident. Your whole soul is listening.

It’s easy to become broken in an uncertain world when you are a sensitive soul. I have been there—through betrayals, rejection, and criticism that hurt me to the core. A lot of the time these sentiments were from myself— my inner critique —who was the meanest of them all.

But by working through it diligently, I was able to heal and accept myself in all my imperfections. By doing so, I’ve grown into the strongest kind of mama bear there is—a beautifully flawed, compassionate, understanding one.

You are strong because you take on a lot and don’t cower away.

You are strong because you let yourself feel fully.

This makes you fearless.

You are:

A mom that will never judge her children, teaching her kids to do the same to others.

A mom who will transform her children’s lives, teaching her kids to do the same to others.

A mom who will spread kindness all around, teaching her kids to do the same to others.

So sensitive mama bear , your cubs are in good hands, because you don’t realize how much strength you have. To feel and to love as deeply as you do is a gift. Keep on giving that gift to your children every single day. It’s an amazing accomplishment.