Last night the kids and I watched Earth, a documentary about animals narrated by the bold, smooth, velvety voice of James Earl Jones. (Love him.) Ig you aren’t familiar with it, the movie followed a few groups of animals over the course of one year as they fight to survive in this world.

These breathtakingly beautiful images of our planet made my jaw drop. At first the kids balked when I chose this as our Friday Night Movie Night feature, but in the end they sat paralyzed (like me) jaw dropped open beholding the majesty. It was spectacular.

Before drifting to sleep the show kept creeping back into my consciousness, the images still so fresh in my mind. My thoughts kept returning on how the mother animals protected their young with such fierce determination. (I’m still trying to get over how the polar bear mothers don’t eat for five months, but still have the stamina to shepherd and teach her cubs. That’s love!)

Fortitude.

Or how the elephant mothers will leave the safety of their pack if their little ones can’t catch up with the rest. The selflessness. They will naturally sacrifice everything. Despite the dry sandstorms and impossible odds, she keeps leading her little one toward the hope of water.

Tenacity.

I loved how the adults would circle around the young ones when a predator approaches. It doesn’t matter that it isn’t their child. They will endure the predator’s attack, the possibility of injury, pain and death for that child. Like the child belonged to the pack as much as the child belonged to the mother. They’ll risk anything to preserve the young, their hope for the future.

Perseverance.

Sometimes I wish that our society was more like the animal kingdom. I wish we could simply revert back to our natural instincts of protecting all of our children. Why don’t we get it that all children are our only hope for the future? It is not only our responsibility, it is our duty as human beings.

When I was pregnant with Hope I had lots of medical issues that caused a significant amount of inescapable pain. I struggled for quite a while with it. I did my fair share of moaning and groaning. It was tough. Then I found my mantra- fortitude, tenacity, perseverance. Every time I started thinking of what was happening to me I would say this mantra over and over to remind myself that it wasn’t just me anymore. I had to lift myself beyond my ego, beyond my body and go higher. With each incantation I was becoming a mother.

Now after all these years, I go back to my mantra when I lose sight of what is important. This life is fleeting, minutes passing by like the breeze. Am I leading by example so that my kids have a clear roadmap for life? Am I caring for other children the same way as I would hope another would care for my own? When I take a step back I see how similar we all are and my heart fills with a sense of gratitude and pride that nourishes another day.