the mother who made the genius

One day in his childhood, Thomas Edison came home from school and gave a sealed note to his mother. He told her, “My teacher gave this envelope to me and told me to only give it to my mother.”

His mother took the envelope from young Thomas’ hands and started reading the letter inside. His mother’s eyes started to fill with tears as she read the letter. When young Thomas inquired about it, his mother wiped her eyes, look proudly at her child and read the letter out loud to him: Your son is a genius. This school is too small for him and doesn’t have enough good teachers for training him properly. Please teach him yourself.

After many, many years, after Edison’s mother had passed and he was now one of the greatest inventors of the century, one day he was looking through some old belongings in his family home. All of a sudden, he found an old envelope sitting in the corner of a drawer in a desk that was given to him by his teacher so many years ago. He took it, opened up the envelope, and pulled out the letter. The message written on the paper was: Your son is addled [mentally ill]. We won’t let him come to school anymore. He is expelled.

Edison became emotional after reading it and sobbed for hours. Later that evening, he wrote in his diary: “Thomas Alva Edison was an addled child that, by a hero mother, became the genius of the century.” 

This story is a great proof of the magical power of a mother. A mother’s love, her unwavering belief in her child can transform from what could have been a misguided errant and delinquent into a changemaker and a genius. Someone who’s a humanitarian, an innovator, a creator, and a pathbreaker who ends up having a positive and long-lasting impact on billions of people around the world over and over again every year. 

The power of love and belief possessed by a mother can transform billions of lives. Belief is a core ingredient to any extraordinary human achievement. It can elevate a person from being ordinary to exceptional, from the depths of mediocrity to the heights of mastery. 

The truth is that we humans are far more capable than we believe. The only thing that we are missing is belief. We all see ourselves as ordinary. But a mother is a person who reminds us how extraordinary we truly are. 

A mother becomes a source of belief for us that powers our actions. Their faith in us and our capability propels us forward and we get inspired to take meaningful actions. And because we act, we are able to accomplish things we never thought we would. 

A mother is not only the caregiver but also the child’s first teacher. Each of her spoken word, each action, each mode of behavior, each movement and each mannerism contributes to building foundations for the child’s own personality and spirit, and future success. And this, as we witness in the above-mentioned story, can have a profound impact on humanity and the world we live in. As the famous saying goes, the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.

So, in celebration of our beloved mothers, reflect on one thing your mother made you believe about yourself that has served you well for the rest of your life. 

And Happy Mother’s Day to all the amazing mothers and moms-to-be that are out there. A big thank you for your extraordinary contributions to our lives.