Episode 229: Mothering with Intention

- Interview Lara Johnson

Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast. The other day I had a woman approach me and confide that she was a focused and successful career woman before her children, and that she struggles with being with her kids all the time. It felt like her career was fading away and her kids did not afford her the success she felt in the corporate world. She was panicking and felt a bit like she was drowning. We talked a bit about seasons of life, about investing our time in the things we most value, in living our best, personal lives.

Today we are diving into this topic with an expert. Lara Johnson has been married for 14 years, has 3 beautiful tyrants, 2 spicy cats, and a baby on the way. She has the best job in the world helping moms live their lives ON purpose and WITH purpose.

In her free time she likes to grow and kill plants, play with pretty rocks, awkwardly dance in the kitchen, read too many books, and spend time with God, nature, and her family.

As a speaker, podcast host, writer, consultant, and coach, she has helped thousands of moms be in a better mood, play more with their kids, manage their homes better, get their to-do lists done, and answer their purpose with fire in their Souls. Stay tuned for my talk with her and how mothering/ and apply this to fathering as well, can be less stressful and more of what you want.

Can I start with a worry I have? I am always so honored to be a part of sharing the sacred stories of people’s lives. But so often, the triumph comes after the tragedy, the struggle, maybe always….there is no triumph in sitting around and watching TV or in a story that focuses on the easy times of our lives. Therefore, I find that our episodes are often focused on something depressing - an eating disorder, a divorce, mental illness, sexual assault, death, domestic violence….this sounds like dark list, and I can just imagine people saying, geez, I don’t want to tune in to another depressing story, (even though they have happy endings of learning.) So, I’ve tried really hard this year to include lots of positive episodes that focus on creating our life stories on purpose, like the Hero on a Mission series, and noticing and focusing on our happiness in the Practical Happiness episode, or how to Engineer our Lives on purpose, in the Life Engineered episode. Well, today is another of those supportive, live-on-purpose episodes, and this one is about motherhood. How to Mother on purpose in our own unique ways.

Tune in to hear my interview with Lara Johnson where we talk about ideas like:

Lara - first tell us what you do and why you’re qualified to talk to us about this topic.

Motherhood can be a challenge - those of us lucky enough to be mothers have found our way through in different ways. Some moms love babies, some love teens, some love toddlers, some want many kids, some want only one or two, and as we learn and navigate this, we learn who we are and boy is this a workshop for patience and love and joy and things you never imagined. But like all things, we can live reactively or intentionally. Let’s talk about what a reactive MOM life looks like and what a MOM on purpose life looks like.

We all come with different talents and abilities. You say, “Your kids don’t need the best, they just need you.” Do you think our children need specifically what we have to offer?

You have something called Discover Your Purpose - how does that work?

How to Contact Lara Johnson:E: lara@larajohnsoncoaching.com

W: larajohnsoncoaching.com

IG: @lara.t.johnson

Motherhood is the most influential role played on this planet. It is the creation and nurture of new lives, new hearts, new mindsets. It IS, after all, the creation and nurture of people. So this really big role is given to women - regular women who come with baggage and weaknesses and struggles, but we women also have heart, strength, love, wisdom, and an array of talents. As with anything, we can focus on where we feel we fall short, or we can focus on where we shine, on what we bring to the table. I love the idea that what we bring is what our kids need. I also love the reminder that we can approach all roles in our lives with intention. I did a vision board when my children were young and on it I spelled out the things I wanted to leave with them - a love for the outdoors, a secure base, an ability to be self-sufficient, an understanding of living with values. We approached life with these ideas in mind. I took them hiking and skiing, canoeing and canyoneering. I taught them to do their own laundry, they contributed through daily chores as they learned how to do things. I’ve always had their back, and I support them the best I can as they try things, as they succeed, as they fail. I have tried to create a home of safety, good books, good movies, education. When they were small I’d subscribe them to National Geographic kids and we’d watch videos about the Book of Virtues and living well. I’d say that was all very intentional. I’m a bit of a tomboy and I only had boys, which I think is how it should be. I’ve never been able to picture myself doing a little girl’s hair or tolerating a shopaholic or emotional frenzy. Drama, not my thing. So I hope my boys were with me because I was what they need/needed. As we leave today, if you haven’t already, think about how much of your mothering is reactionary, and how much of it is on purpose. Then maybe choose something you can intentionally do with your children that will create something you want to create with them. Your time with your children is an investment, always an investment.

Please share this episode with one other mother that you know. We’ll see you in two weeks.