Growing Pains...

The questions kids and young adults ask and the comments they make are a direct reflection of where they are in that particular capsule of time and space. Growing into the person we were meant to be isn’t easy and there are many instances where it leaves parents and older adults in unfamiliar territory. We grasp for the dusty moth-eaten memories of our childhood and young adult years to help give us an idea of what these young people are currently going through. Try as we may, we cannot always connect.

Becoming an adult can be such an arduous and painful journey. I do remember that. I also see and observe many people in their twenties who are still trying to discover and establish who they are and what they will stand for. Setting boundaries and rules for our lives seems to take time. There’s an internal struggle that comes with maturing. Sometimes establishing our own moral compasses and ethics takes much more time than some think that it should. Fortunately, for most, time is a primary ingredient of our lives and life experiences are a given. Both of these combined are as leaven to our lives.

There are many bridges to cross and hopefully few will be burned; lessons to learn and mistakes to be made. Decisions will cross our paths and directions will be chosen, and hopefully no one along our way is seriously hurt. Discovering who we are and what we will be committed to is a continuous cycle that doesn’t stop when you grow older, but it does get easier. As we work from our value-based perspectives that our parents encouraged when we were very young, there is one common thread that we seek. That thread is love and an unconditional acceptance of whom we are and who we are trying to become.

Those that hate feel despised and those that love feel nurtured. Those who are bitter feel slighted and those who are forgiving feel accepted. Those who steal feel cheated and those who are giving feel blessed. Those who are unhappy feel sorrow and those who feel joy have peace.

later…