My precious children,
There is something I've never quite
learned how to do that I hope you always do well. It's something that
is easy for many people, or at least seems to be. It's something that
comes naturally for some, while others have to work at it, but I'm
reminded of my inability to do it well each time I hear three simple
words, and I've been told those words more times in my life than I
can count. No matter how often I hear them, I am always taken aback.
But I AM standing up straight, I always think. What do you mean?
But I'm not. I'm often slouching, and
although I've tried hard to correct it over the years, it's too
difficult to constantly be conscious of it, and that's what it takes
for me – to be continually aware of it so I can force my shoulders
back into an acceptable posture, one that proves I have it all
together, just like I'm supposed to.
Some of us wear our hurts in a much
more visible way than others. We are overweight because we eat to
fill the void. We are too thin because of years of internal
struggles. Our eyes are bloodshot from all of the stress. Our
shoulders droop because we are weary.
Some of us are better at hiding all of
it. But none of us escapes it.
I wish I could tell you that life will
always go exactly how you had planned, that all your dreams will come
true, that you will never make mistakes, that no one will ever hurt
you. But I can't tell you any of that because the opposite is pretty
much guaranteed, no matter how hard it is for you to believe that
right now.
You are safe when you are in Mommy's
arms, you are protected in Daddy's embrace, and your tiny world is so
innocent, as innocent as it will ever be, and oh how I wish that
could always be so.
The truth is some days will be hard.
Some days will be so easy that you'll try to remember what you were
even complaining about before. And most days you'll probably feel a
little out of place in this world.
The key to making it through every type
of day that you face lies in those three words: stand up straight.
Stand
up for what's right and good and pure and true, and stand up proudly.
Look the world in the eye because you are worth far more than it
tells you that you are.
You
will not be liked – or loved – by everyone. It doesn't
matter how nice you are, how pretty, how funny, how smart. There will
always be someone who doesn't like what you stand for and decide that
you are not worthy. But you are worthy. You are worthy in a way that
you may never fully comprehend.
You
can't control everything, but the good news is no one can. The even
greater news is that your joy is not dependent upon your
circumstances. It's always
possible to hold your head up, even when you feel as though there is
something impossible weighing it down.
It is because
these things are true that is precisely why you should heed the
advice of those three words. Your life matters. It has purpose. It
has meaning. Remember that and lift your chin when someone tells you
differently.
It has always been
tempting to me to try to hide, for fear that someone might find a
flaw, but I've also seen the hope that can be found in those flaws.
I've seen the good that comes from being real. It makes all the
difference in the world when you know who you are and on what you
stand. So yes, dear kids, stand up straight, stand up tall, but more
importantly, stand on solid ground.
Make sure it's a
rock that's holding you up.
