It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. E. E. Cummings
Meditation: Since I turned 50, I have found a new sense of just being who I really am. I no longer want to please or adapt, nor worry about what others might think of me. I feel more clarity about my strengths and the values that I stand for, and I am also more keenly aware of my weaknesses and my ongoing “growing edges”. Our twins are teenagers now and are beginning to discover themselves, wondering who they are and who they might become. We taught them never to compare themselves to each other or to others, so they both allow for their differences to show. No matter how supportive an environment is, it takes courage to grow up and courage to be a grown up. When I model to them how to accept myself with my strengths and also my shortcomings, I help them embrace their own. When I love and forgive myself even when I make a mistake or something does not go well, my girls learn to embrace their own moments of so called “failure”, which are really great moments of learning and maturing. It took me many years to find this courage to embrace all of me, just as it will take many years for our girls to discover and embrace all of themselves. But what an exciting and courageous journey it is!
Prayer: God of becoming, we thank You for this ongoing journey of discovery and of becoming who we really are. Thank You for Your Spirit that fills our hearts with courage to keep walking, especially when we would like to stop, when the going gets tough and when we discover things about ourselves we would have rather not known. And yet, You know us fully. You look at us with delight, compassion and with acceptance. You call us to let go of the former and allow the fullness of who we are to break forth. And we are grateful. Amen
11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, and I thought as a child. But when I became a (wo)man, I put away childish things. For now we see as through a glass, dimly, but then, face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know, even as I also am known. 1. Corinthians 13: 11-12
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