I don't know why I'm still surprised by the fact that lessons just keep coming, one right after another.

I continually convince myself that there is a finish line that once I cross, it will be easy or clear or settled.

A very dear friend Lisa Maki told me “I find the universe uses as tough a method as we need.” And she is right. And I must need some tough lessons.

I wish I could take some of my lessons and use them to shield my kids from needing to learn them. But that's the thing about lessons and teachers—it's a gauntlet we take one small brave step at a time, and no one can carry us.

One if my greatest teachers told me “the bull can't buck forever” and he was right.

I can ride this bull.

So this month we share YOUR lessons—tough, funny, hard won, stumbled through. It's like being a parent—the journey is often sloppy, spilled and sticky, but man-oh-man is it worth the ride.

About the Author

Elke

Elke Govertsen is a entrepreneur and founder of Mamalode. She has been featured in Real Simple, Forbes, Where Women Create, Ad Tech, and listed as one of Origin Magazine's "Top 100 Creatives." She has been a speaker at The Girls Lounge, Adweek, C2Montreal, HATCH, TEDx and (her favorite) in classrooms. She speaks on a variety of topics from entrepreneurship to overcoming obstacles. She loves consulting in the areas of community design, storytelling and brand building. Her special skills include extreme bootstrapping, overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities. Of the many things she has learned by doing Mamalode, her ability to work with absolute chaos/kids/mess just might be the best. She is learning that slowing down creates more impact.