This I Believe

• I believe I am a good mother.
• I believe in true love.
• I believe in cereal for dinner.
• I believe in the no elbows on the table rule.
• I believe in karma.
• I believe we are in control of our own destiny.
• I believe in same sex marriage.
• I believe in natural beauty.
• I believe laughter is the best medicine.
• I believe you should keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.
• I believe anything is possible.
• I believe in myself.
• I believe in retail therapy.
• I believe love is blind.
• I believe in magic.
• I believe I'm addicted to coffee.
• I believe in miracles.
• I believe God never gives you anything you can't handle.
• I believe in keeping children, children as long as possible.
• I believe minds are like parachutes they function best when open.

On this list, believing in myself is the most important to me. After Rilynn's father left, I was more scared than at anytime in my life. I didn't know how I was going to handle all of the things I had on my plate; school, work, being a single mom. I knew women brought up children by themselves all of the time, but I wasn't convinced it was something I could do. I didn't think I was strong enough to do so.

It took a while for me to realize, I was a single mom in a relationship before he even left. He never helped feed her, change her, dress her, bathe her. Hell, he didn't even take the initiative to play with her on his own. He would sit her on his lap and watch television around her. After I realized that, things became second nature. I had been doing this alone the entire time and I just had to believe in myself. This was going to be a piece of cake. I can do anything I set my mind to.
Anything is possible and we're a whole lot better off without him in our lives. & I couldn't thank him enough for the favor.