Actress Viola Davis appeared on Today With Hoda & Jenna Wednesday, discussing the powerful affirmations she tells her 11-year-old daughter Genesis every day.
“I feel about Genesis the same way I feel about myself when I look at myself when I (was) younger,” Davis said. “I think it’s a great opportunity to grow and even learn about me, because I have to give her affirmations — every day, I do it.”
The 56-year-old shared with the hosts some of the uplifting affirmations she tells Genesis while staring in a mirror. They include:
- “G, your heart and your head are the two most important things in your life.”
- “Genesis, Mommy’s going to love you more than anyone is ever going to love you — even the love of your life.”
- “Genesis, life is going to be hard. I can give you everything, everything that I know, but it’s still going to be hard.”
Davis’ said the love and encouragement she showed her daughter helped her learn to empower herself, which is something she never received as a child. She opened up about her upcoming memoir, “Finding Me,” highlighting her abusive childhood, living in poverty, being bullied, and rising above it all, Sis2Sis reported.
The Rhode Island native also shared how she survived her childhood while growing up with her five siblings after witnessing her mother physically and mentally abused by her father.
“How you react is based on survival. The key is to survive. I did what was at my hand to do at eight years old. I fought. And that fighting served me because I’m still on my feet,” Viola said in an exclusive interview with People Magazine.
While forgiving a loved one is never easy, Davis explained that her father, Dan, made amends with her and her mother, Mae Alice, before dying from pancreatic cancer in 2006.
“My dad changed. My mom said he apologized to her every single day. Every single day, he rubbed her feet. Forgiveness is not pretty. Sometimes people don’t understand that life is not a Thursday-night lineup on ABC. It is messy. He did hurt me then, but love and forgiveness can operate on the same plane as anger.”
She continued, “I wanted to love my dad,” she expressed. “And here’s the thing: My dad loved me. I saw it. I felt it. I received it, and I took it. For me, that’s a much better gift and less of a burden than going through my entire life carrying that big, heavy weight of who he used to be and what he used to do. That’s my choice. That’s my legacy: forgiving my dad.”
The award-winning actress has been married to actor Julius Tennon, 68, for nearly 20 years and shares an 11-year-old daughter Genesis.
“Finding Me” was released on April 26.
