The I once heard someone say, I can't even remember my life before I had kids.

While I certainly remember it, it is true that my pre-child life feels like a foreign experience in many ways from my current experience.

I was very intimidated by parenthood, and often still am, and yet I am immensely grateful for this opportunity to be this boy's mama.

It has required me to grow and transform,

to rise to the occasion. It requires me to do more and to be more than I thought I was able.

As I've been reflecting over the past year, I've been thinking a lot about his early days. Newborns often have a daily cry fest with no explanation aptly called the witching hour. I remember one night during

witching hour, I was simply beside myself with what to do to calm him. He was fed, burped, his diaper had been changed,

and I was trying to get him to sleep.

At my wits' end, I just ended up lying down on the bed beside him

and saying quietly,

I don't know what to do to help you right now,

but I'll just be here with you while you go through it.

I think that's what we all need sometimes.

Life gives us these opportunities to transform.

There are times when life is calling you to be more than you think you can be,

and sometimes you just want someone else to be there while you feel all you need to feel.

While having someone else be a witness for us is lovely, we can also do this for ourselves.

Being a witness for yourself, watching how you react, tuning in to what you need, especially in times of growth

and transformation, can be so healing and studying. Meditation helps to give us the ability to do that,

to witness yourself, to know there is a part of you that remains capable and steady no matter

what the world may bring. Perhaps parenthood is asking you to rise to the occasion too, or

maybe it's something totally different. Work, a relationship, your health, getting a handle on your

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