“One of the most important relationships we have is the relationship we have with our mothers.” – Iyanla Vanzant

Research shows that the connection between a mother and her daughters is more significant than that of any other relationship that one may experience. Having studied MRI scans on all members of 35 various healthy families, the researchers wrote in ‘The Journal of Neuroscience,’ “This association was significantly greater than mother-son, father-daughter, and father-son associations.”

Here are 9 life lessons that strong mothers will teach their daughters:

1. Believe in Unconditional Love

Unconditional love is a concept that may be hard for some to believe, but a woman with a strong mother has no doubt that it exists as she has experienced it first hand. Her mother demonstrated this powerful, valuable type of love each day of her life, enforcing the belief that it can exist and teaching her not to settle for anything less.

2. Create Your Own Happiness

Far too many people try to find happiness in their circumstances, handing over control over their happiness to outside influences. When times get tough, these individuals struggle to stay positive or find the silver lining. Instead, a strong mother will teach her daughter that she, alone, is responsible for her happiness and that she can find something to be happy about in nearly any situation in life.

3. Being a Woman Isn’t Easy

While we have come leaps and bounds in the area of equality, it is still incredibly difficult at times to be a woman in the world today. A strong mother doesn’t shy away from sharing this fact with her daughter, teaching her that life will not always be fair. She demonstrates first hand that the best way to deal with the inequality in the world is to rise above it.

4. Leave the Past in the Past

Far too many of us have been there – that moment where the ‘what if’ and ‘what could have been’ begin to dominate our thoughts, leaving us questioning and second guessing every choice that we have made. A strong mother teaches her daughter that this obsession with the past will only end in heartbreak, showing her that the key to happiness is to leave the past in the past and always look forward.

5. It is Okay to Ask for Help

There is nothing wrong with needing help in life, and sometimes the only way for the people who care about you to know that you need it is if you ask for it. Growing up, while a strong mother will push their daughter to learn how to be self-sufficient and independent, they will also ensure that they are a phone call away when their daughter does need someone.

6. You Can Be Strong AND Compassionate

Far too many people equate compassion with weakness, creating the belief that one cannot be compassionate for those that they meet throughout their journey and still remain a strong individual. A strong mother knows that this isn’t true, and teaches her daughter that as a strong woman she can still embrace kindness and compassion in her life.

7. You Are Your Own First Love

A strong mother wants to ensure that her daughter doesn’t try to fill a void in her life by relying solely on the love of others as this can set her up for disappointment and failure. Instead, she teaches her the importance of loving yourself first and foremost, before all else.

8. Look to the Future

There are times that life is going to bring your down, overwhelming you with the negativity that is occurring around you. When a young woman is caught in this difficult time, a strong mother will help her to look past her struggles to the bright future ahead. She will help her to see that despite the current trials and tribulations she will benefit more from looking to the future than dwelling on the past.

9. You Are Enough

The world can be a scary, dangerous place, teaching young women to compare themselves to everyone around them at every turn. This can have a negative impact on their self-esteem, leaving them feeling as though they aren’t pretty enough, smart enough, strong enough, kind enough or talented enough. A strong mother ensures that her daughter knows that she is more than enough in anything that she does simply by being herself.

Inspired by articles written by the Huffington Post and The Odyssey Online.

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