This is Who I am!

Hi, I am Frances Ann Rudd and this is my very first blog. I am the single mother of an eight year old whom I met when he was 3 1/2 years old. Jaden was a GOD send to me then and just as much now. Adopting at the age of forty-seven has been a true game changer for me.

One which I will dive into more in my next blog.

I am excited to start this path as a family and life coach because family is so important to me.

I define family as both blood and non-blood related individuals. I truly believe that having a strong family or having the understanding of what a strong family means to you helps you to have a fulfilling life. I have spent 29 years of my life working with families and I have been a member of a family unit for 51 years 9 months and give or take a few days. I thank GOD that I have not seen it all but I have seen the joy, pain, sunshine and rain (O'Jays or Rob Base). In the many life experiences I have had as an educator, service coordinator, daughter, sister, niece, aunt, cousin and godmother I have learned that you must be true to yourself. I learned this later in life but I learned it. When I say "true to yourself" I mean taking care of yourself through selfcare. Selfcare comes in many different forms but all forms start with putting yourself first.

Many people feel they are not worthy of selfcare as a parent, partner, friend or relative. But you are and I am. What makes us think that we are not? What makes us think that we will not be good or even great at something? What makes us think we will never be anymore than we are now? For me it was the limiting beliefs I grew up with. And let me make this clear it is not always what someone told us or showed us. Sometimes it is the assumptions we ourselves made about a moment or moments in time that has guided our beliefs about ourselves. I found that my limiting beliefs were based on some true happenings and things I assumed to be true about a situation.

One of those situations happened to me in primary school. I assumed I was not as smart as the other children because I had to go to summer school. About six months ago I was talking to my dad and I shared that I did not understand how I went into kindergarten knowing so much and then having to go to summer school. My dad explained to me what happened and that I did not have to go to summer school. My dad also explained that they (my parents) were asked to let me go to summer school in order to help get a new program started. I am 51 years old, this happened when I was 6 years old and I constantly went back to that time questioning myself.

That is just one situation that caused me to have a limiting belief in myself. I am so thankful that I have been able to address these beliefs and lovingly moving forward becoming the Frances Ann Rudd I want to be. It may change tomorrow but that is okay because it will change according to what I want not because of what I think is expected of me and/or from me. This is truly who I am!