A miracle on Mother’s Day.

There’s a story behind that.

This is your daily message from Chad number 1060 to upgrade your mental game today by telling yourself a better story, because the most important story you hear is the story you tell yourself. And this message is dedicated to Teresa Smith—my mother—because today is Mother’s Day, and what I’m about to share captures the magic of motherhood.

Here’s the upgrade: you may think Mother’s Day is about celebrating what mothers do, but upgraded thinking understands that motherhood is about who they are,  a conduit for love beyond time.

Here’s the story:

On Mother’s Day, Jodi Thomas sat with two losses: her mother had passed years before, and her adult daughter was away for work. When her husband offered her anything she wanted—a shopping spree, a fancy dinner—she couldn’t tell him the truth: he could not give her what she actually wanted. Time with the two people she missed most.

As the day moved forward, she got a call from Sandy, her “adopted mom”, who had become her matriarch when her own mother could no longer be. Sandy called to say she was lucky to have her as a daughter. The woman was broken open by this kindness and they made last minute plans to see a movie together and then went shopping with Johnny, her husband.

Hours later, after a movie with Sandy and her husband, after the small joys of shopping that didn’t fill the hole, after the late-night call from her daughter saying “I love you, I’m working, I have to go”—she was still in a funk and broke. She wanted her mother back. She wanted her daughter there. She wanted what she couldn’t have. She lay in bed with comfort food and her mother’s favorite movie, sobbing alone.

Her husband called from another room, “Jodi, what’s that noise.” “I’m in bed watching a movie.” “No, it’s not the movie. It’s coming from this.” Then her husband called her to the bathroom. There, on the windowsill, was a music box—a wooden box that had sat on her mother’s dresser for decades. A box that had never, in all those years, ever played music. And now it was playing. For the first time. For her. On Mother’s Day. She hugged it until it stopped. Her husband tried to wind it again, but it wouldn’t play. And months later, it still doesn’t.

But on that one day, when she felt like her family was not with her, they were—all in their own ways. Her adopted mother enjoyed a movie with her. Her daughter had taken time out of her busy schedule to call and say “I love you.” And her mother, Bonnie, had come by to send her love. Maybe it was wind. Maybe it was mechanics finally aligning. Or maybe, it was the magic of motherhood that was able to reach across time. The better story to tell yourself is, “Those I love are always reaching for me, in ways I’m learning to recognize.”

Tell me a story of a moment when you felt someone’s love reach across distance or time to fromchadsmith@gmail.com. Send your mom a text and tell her about a moment you remember her showing up for you—not just the big gestures, but the presence. You can get a free copy of my book, The Most Powerful Story in the World, by going to fromchad.gumroad.com. The transcript of this message and hundreds of others are always available at www.fromchad.com.