Rememering Heather

My favorite 19-year-old daughter left home once (when she was my favorite 18-year-old daughter), the summer after high school graduation, and went off to Austin to school and work. She came home for part of last year, but left again this week. This time, though, she has gone out of state to a school 1200 miles away; so far away that I can’t take an evening drive to her apartment to spend time together, like before. There will be no more “Mom, can you bring…I forgot it when I left this morning.” She’s so far away that she’s really on her own, but I’m not worried. She’s prepared to compete in college. We hope that by the time the competition begins, we’ve trained well enough to contend for the prize we seek. Sometimes we hope to lift more weight than anyone in our class. Sometimes we hope to run faster than others in our event. Depending on where we started, we might feel like winners when we cross the finish line, even if not first. In the case of my sweet girl, it doesn’t matter if she gets a teaching certificate before, after, or at the same time as others in her high school graduating class. The time she’s spent serving, helping and learning from her elders over the last few months has been part of her ongoing training for the next leg of the path she’s on. It’s not a race against others, it’s really an obstacle course. That’s life. Training for life involves more than academic preparedness. It requires more than arriving at the age of majority. Training, generally speaking, is purposeful growth. The best training is perpetual, positive, purposeful growth. Lifelong learning by deliberate effort always yields positive results, even when mistakes are made or when injuries occur. If lessons are learned and wrong turns corrected, the training is successful. The fantastical idea that we can or should get everything right from the very beginning is make-believe. It’s unrealistic to expect we’ll win the first and every race we enter. Non-existent is the person who never stumbles, never strains, never falls. The reality of life is that from birth to death we are each a work in progress. We are never finished training, so live life with intent to grow. Whether you’re heading off to college or living in your post-retirement location, you’re growing. Recognize opportunities to apply what you’ve learned in positive ways. No learning need be a wasted effort or investment of time. All things in life are for your growth and benefit, working together as you maneuver the course. Remember; always train (meaning live), with intent. By so doing, you’re the winner. Be well.