Honoring your mother without having a close relationship with her—especially due to differences and harmful interactions—can be about finding a way to acknowledge her role in your existence while maintaining the boundaries necessary for your well-being.
It doesn’t have to mean closeness, forgiveness on her terms, or pretending harm didn’t happen.
Instead, it can mean:
- Acknowledging her humanity—recognizing that she, too, is a product of her experiences, limitations, and wounds, even if they negatively affected you.
- Practicing gratitude from a distance—honoring what she gave you, even if it was only life itself, without ignoring the pain she may have caused.
- Breaking cycles—choosing to parent yourself, love differently, or heal in ways she could not, as a way of honoring what *should* have been.
- Releasing resentment for your own peace—not for her, but for yourself, so her actions no longer have power over your emotional well-being.
- Honoring the parts of you that came from her—whether it's your strength, creativity, resilience, or anything else you value.
Honoring doesn’t always mean reconciliation.
Sometimes, it means creating space for healing in a way that aligns with your truth.
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