In the book, 27 women – including Rabbi Stacy Friedman, author Isabel Allende, Carol Bartz (CEO of AutoDesk) and many others from around America – convey their most intimate thoughts, suggestions and feelings about being

a mom.

Life Messages for Moms: Inspiration for a Woman’s Spirit is Carlton’s latest book in her “Life Messages” series. Her Web site with this and other books is: www.josephinecarlton.com.

The 246 pages, hardcover book is a special edition that is priced to make it remarkably affordable: just $6.98 available at all Barnes & Noble stores nationwide and online at www.bn.com.

Just a few of the excerpts from the book include these thoughts from moms:

"My happiest moments with my children are those small moments. They are not necessarily the planned theme park moments, but the small moments." - Rabbi Stacy Friedman

"I don't think there is a love that matches the love for a child. The unique intensity of it feels very different from any other kind of love that you can experience. It's perfection." - Carol Bartz/CEO Autodesk

"It's the most important job in the world. There's no doubt in my mind. Show me what you think is the most important job in the world, and I will show you the mother who raised the child that grew into that job." - Alexia Jackson/ Comedienne

"One looks back and thinks "I never loved them enough," but I was there. What did I do for them? I paid attention. That's love......I didn't always know what was best for them, I just tried." - Ann Getty/Philanthropist/ Interior Designer

"I disagree that love is just an emotion. Love is a decision. It's being willing to give yourself to somebody else unconditionally. You support this little child physically, emotionally, spiritually, and you help it develop and encourage it. You sacrifice for the child, and all of that is love… - Ariel Bybee/Mezzo-Soprano

"If anything, loving my children helps me to love other people in my life better."

- Rabbi Stacy Friedman

“The biggest challenge as a mother has been to let go, to realize my children have their own life and they are different people. I was very blessed to have them in my life for a while, but I don't own them. I can't protect them from death; neither can I protect them from life. I can't

protect them from pain, for whatever is going to happen to them. They have their own destiny. To be able to let go and stand on the side and watch them stumble and fall and not pick them up because they have to learn the lesson is the most awful, awful challenge for a mother. "

- Isabel Allende/author

"I am a mom who doesn’t sit at the park with a latte in my hand. I'm on the playground, playing with my kids." - Amy Apollo Ahumada/Mother of two/Boutique Manager

"Motherhood is the ultimate reward and the ultimate sacrifice, all in the same breath" - Laurel Biever, Counselor/Therapist

"When children are young they are in your lap; when they're older, they are in your heart.” - Arlene Ackerman

Superintendent of the San Francisco Unified School District

"I believe maternal instinct is hardwired in us. I don't think I could have identified that prior to having children." - Jennifer Morla/Designer

“I challenge all of us not to demote ourselves by how we talk about motherhood. We need to talk about it in terms of this valuable role that we play. In my heart I believe it is the most important work that we will do for the rest of our lives. It's not just a job. It's a lifetime career, and

it's the most important thing we can ever do.” - Yasmine Ahmed McGrane/Entrepreneur

"Mothers are role models in a three-hundred-sixty-degree manner. In every aspect of how they live their lives they are role models for their children, either consciously or unconsciously." - Judith Epstein/ Appellate Judge

"Mothers inspire their children through the life that they live. A mother's life lived is what children see and feel the effects of on a moment-by-moment basis." - Virginia Harris/Spiritual Leader

"The qualities that significant mother figures project are altruism and selfless because that's what mothers really have to have. Otherwise it doesn't work."

- Gretchen DeWitt/Public Relations

"Just as we need to feed our children to give them sustenance for survival, so too must we nourish their spirits in order to prepare them for their place in the world."

- Josephine Carlton/author

With a writer's ear and a mother's heart, Carlton elicits intimate feelings and personal stories about motherhood from twenty-seven remarkable women.

The contributors are real moms of different ages, and from various ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. Ranging from a Rabbi to an Appellate Judge and the renowned author Isabel Allende, to a comedienne/stay-at-home mom and a physician and mother of nine children who worked with Mother Teresa, Life Messages for Moms pays tribute to the important work of being a mother.

Some speak of the joy of giving birth. Others ponder the significance of leaving a legacy long after they are gone. One mother confesses she feels like "the garbage lady, “cleaning up her daughter's mess. Another felt

something was missing until she had her fourth child.

By reading these heartfelt testimonials, you will find yourself fascinated by the many different answers to questions concerning all aspects of motherhood. Do mothers learn from their children? What is unconditional love? Is a mother's intuition real? What are your happiest moments as a

mother? What does motherhood mean to you?

Whether you are a mother, grandmother, or mother-to-be, you will recognize in this new book some of your most deeply held values and fondly remembered experiences connected to the joy of motherhood.

© 2005 HealthNewsDigest.com