Arrival

As children, we wait to be grown-ups. We wait to arrive. My grandfather recently told me that life comes in stages, like a buffet. We never arrive - we travel, we walk through, taking what we want, sometimes ending up with what we didn't expect. The contrast would have made childhood much less traumatic. Think of it, guilt, regrets... when shit comes, duck and keep walking. Don't look back. Sometimes you take a wrong turn. Find your way home then keep walking. Every day is a new opportunity to take the right turn. Did you abandon? were you abandoned? Did you cause harm? were you harmed? I've been learning coping skills. Emotions are real. We don't coddle children because we they're just tired, need to eat, are cold, feel pain -all these excuses to delegitamize their emotions. It's not that their sadness and pain isn't real - they just aren't coping. I find that disturbing. Are we supposed to feel our emotions or cope with our emotions? Is there a way to do both? Why is showing emotion so concerning? What is the difference between not coping and showing emotion in a healthy way? Each stage of life presents challenges. Parents, teach your children to cope, to roll with the punches. Don't feel guilty cause you fucked them up. You didn't. They were born that way. Teach them to cope with it. Cope with it through good health, through faith in God, through healthy relationships, support systems, etc. But, in the end, they have their path to walk. As do you. Walk with dignity. Find joy when you have joy. Enjoy the beautiful when it crosses your path. Endure the pain when it comes. Love when you have the chance. Find beauty in the solace when it comes. It's all life. We have our destiny, our path, our God given futures. Walk them.