As The Nest Empties-Empty Nest Adventures

Do you ever read something on Facebook that just completely tugs at your hear strings and leaves you completely breathless? That happened to me this morning when I read thew news feed that included a post from the incredible Julie Anne Jones.

Yes, she is a direct sales corporate consultant and trainer, an ICF accredited life and business coach, and the CEO of Julie Anne Jones, Inc. She has also been called the systems queen, and can break down just about any concept or big picture into doable steps. But you know what else? She is a MOM. Her “MOM” post this morning was just absolutely beautiful and is a testament to Empty Nest moms and what the whole Empty Nest transition is all about!

Our precious gift

On the day we are given the most precious gift of our newborn child, we don’t give letting go of them a passing thought. But the truth is, from that day forward, as parents, our lives become a series of moments of letting go. We let go when they take their first steps. We let go on their first day of kindergarten. We let go as we’re running beside them the first time they ride a bike without training wheels and the first time we watch them drive away in a car for the first time. It’s such a long, slow process that one would think that in that moment today, as I watched my beautiful, talented, happy son walk up the stairs to his dorm after I’d hugged him for the third time and given up on stopping the flood of tears, it would have felt more natural or easy. It didn’t. It felt like a little part of my heart was breaking and a big door in my life was closing.

I’ll always be his mom and he knows I’ll never stop caring about him, loving him, supporting and cheering for him or worrying about him. But the painful truth hit me as I drove away today that the days of being responsible for him and his actions are gone. I’ve handed him the reigns to his life, fairly confident that he has the tools he needs to steer a path toward an amazing future, and that his dad and I have done a good job in teaching him and nurturing who he has become. But it’s truly up to him now.

I’m so flooded with conflicting emotions but the overarching thing I’m feeling as I come to the end of this pivotal day for us both is that I’m not exactly sure how to be his mom from this new perspective. So we’ve both got some learning to do, some adapting and changing, and in a way I embarked on a new adventure of my own today, right alongside his.
~ Julie Anne Jones

Empty Nest Survival

A lot has been said about Empty Nest Syndrome and Empty Nest Survival. It’s not a real “medical” condition. But for any mom who has watched their child drive off into the sunset beginning their own life, there is no denying it.

It’s a condition of the HEART. It’s REAL. Even if we are thrilled our kids are heading off on their own and doing the “adult” things, we still are going to go through a transition. Just as Julie Anne Jones said, it is “pivotal” moment in everyone’s lives.

The thing about pivotal moments is that we get to CHOOSE how we react to them. Oh, yes, there may be some tears. But we do get to choose whether we mope, constantly cry, and become depressed and despondent. If we decide in OUR heart that we will take this moment and begin our own adventure, the transition can be made a little stronger. The key, is our mindset and what we decide.

I won’t lie to you and say it will be easy.

But we can become a stronger and better woman for it.

If you haven’t, I would like to encourage you to take my completely anonymous “Empty Nest” survey. I want to know what I can do and provide to help you during your transition!.

Until then,
Hugs and feathers from the nest~~()~~

Kim Steadman is the COOP (Chief Online Operating Person) for The Re-Feathered Nest. A place of encouragement for moms entering the Empty Nest Zone who find they need to Re-Purpose and Re-Design their lives now that the kids have flown the coop. Kim can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TheRefeatheredNest and on Google+ at +Kim.