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Quote of The Day: 'Be grateful to all of your teachers and anyone who took interest in you, particularly your family, for their knowledge and love contributed to your journey.'

While growing up, my mom's way of helping me recognize and respect the value of motherhood was to say that since God could not be everywhere at the same time, He invented moms. Naturally, it was an honorable job that demanded a mix of great respect and fear. After all, everyone knew about the severe consequences for disobeying God or His chosen right hand, mom.

However, life, which has a way of teaching us humility and wisdom through experiences both good and bad, helped me gain a true sense of appreciation for what many consider to be the toughest job in the world (i.e. being a mom). After all, what other jobs are as challenging, demanding and require one to be a Jack-of- all-trades, on call twenty four hours a day, every day for a lifetime, without even getting paid for it either? What other job can make your heart feel like being outside your body when you worry about your most precious commodity, your child? And what other job can be as rewarding too? And what other job comes with a lifetime-devotion? Yet knowingly or unknowingly we either don't notice mom's many contributions to our lives or we simply take them for granted.

Celebrating one day of recognition and love is actually a great opportunity to heal relationships with our moms by helping us shift our focus to what's really important in life - family. But being a mom is so much more than just a 'job.' Being a mom is a destiny from the time of conception of the child and for their lifetime. It's also divine. Just look at animals and the special relationship and bond shared between a mother and her offspring and you'll discover that there is nothing like it.

When I think of moms, I'm reminded of the hit TV series 'Touched By An Angel.' That's because good moms are angels in disguise who give new meaning to the expression 'labor of love.' It's this love and dedication that needs to be recognized and honored, and not just on special occasions.

As a parent myself, I know that the ultimate reward is never material but spiritual ' therefore there is no need for extravagant gifts (especially when it's done out of a sense of obligation and with strings attached), or a big production just to express the most basic and natural sentiment of love and sincere gratitude. After all, it's the intention that counts!

So go ahead and give your mom the most powerful, memorable and life-affirming gift of all. Best of all it's free, and good for the soul too. Give her the gift of love. Make her feel special and honored through kind words and deeds. Simply put, a mom deserves to be recognized and appreciated (and not just on Mother's Day) for her contribution of blood, sweat and tears in transforming our lives. Give sincere gratitude to your mom (every day) for the simple reason that she is truly a home goddess and the unsung hero in our lives.