Tomorrow

Why is it that some people make all their decisions in the past?  It makes me angry to hear them talk to me based on assumptions. I am not who I was twenty years ago. I am not who I was fifteen years ago. I am not my mother, or my grandmother. I do not expect to live or die like anyone else in my family and that is not an accident.

I have worked hard to be me. I have broken most of the old habits, played out most of the old games, and given up most of the limitations bred into me by fear. It isn't always easy. Easy would be to fall back into these old routines, into the comfort of the tried and true, except that I know where it leads.

It isn't easy to break new ground. I make lots of mistakes, but that is okay. At least I'm not burying myself, or my children in old outmoded ruts that will tie us like scarecrows to desiccated land.

We will keep the good things, and there are many, while exploring the possibilities of the unknown.

I already hear the next generations belting out songs I would have been terrified to try. I see them branching out on their own, supporting themselves and unafraid to stand on their own two feet. They are more realistic, more level headed, and more courageous than I ever was.

I say courageous because I suspect they are just as afraid as I was.  You can't be courageous if you aren't overcoming fear.

I can't take the credit for their successes. They are doing it on their own, but I can be proud that I'm not intentionally holding them back by passing down my shortcomings like family heirlooms.

I know this world is hard, but I also know my children and grandchildren are strong and smart and willing to do whatever it takes to make it. I want all future generations to have half of their parents problems and twice their strength, then life will only get better and better.