By the time your are sixteen, you will have fallen in love. It will seem terribly important and pressing and amazing and you will feel like all of you is alive and about to burst from your skin. This is normal. It is also normal for it to hurt like hell when it is over.Don't worry, this is also not the end of the world, though it seems so. Time will give you perspective, and at sixteen, you have a lot of time.
By the time you are eighteen you will in all likelihood be so sick of school that the mere sight of a math problem will make you sick to your stomach. THIS IS OKAY. I don't care what anyone tells you. It's normal to hate school. You've been in it for more than half of your life. It's reasonable to want to do something else. However. You will soon forget that you hate everything school related and begin to truly value your education, weather you choose to continue it or not. One of the most frustrating and wonderful facts of life is this: weather we like it or not we never stop learning.
There will be times when you think that I'm an old fool, and occasionally there will be times when I actually am an old fool. That being said, I do have years of life experience on you, so occasionally I might just know what the Hell I'm talking about.
By the time you are twenty you will have a good idea of what is right and what is wrong. This knowledge is a gift given to you by everyone you know and love. Do not squander this gift. It makes you human. Live what you know is right. Fight what you know is wrong. To do otherwise is to do a disservice to yourself and those who taught you right from wrong. It shames you, and them.
By the time you are nineteen you will have some kind of responsibility. Breathe. Weather you are responsible for a squad in combat or simply getting to work on time half the battle is telling yourself that you can do it. and you can. The rest will follow.
By the time you are legally an adult you will probably have done something you are truly ashamed of. If you haven't, I congratulate you. Keep up the good work. If you have, well, it sucks, there is no two ways about it. Still, apologize, do penance, and don't let it happen again. This is all you can do. It is, or it may not be, enough. But it is all you can do. And that is what matters.
You will, at some point, not do your best. This is fine. We all can't do our best all the time. Still, do try to do your best on the important stuff. You'll regret it later if you don't. Trust me, one of those experience things.
You will, at some point, hate me and your mother. I'm sure we'll have done something unreasonably unfair and hopelessly cruel. This too will pass. You may hate us. But we love you kiddo, get over it.
Remember this above all else: your life is yours, to do with what you will. It's too short and fragile to live with fear and regret. Live for something, not despite it. I love you. Go forth and take on your dreams.
-Dad
P.S. I don't care how big you are, you call me "Doug" and i'm going to spank you.
3 comments:
I like this a lot. And, perhaps not very often, but occasionally. And just a nit, choice, not atmosphere.
but what if you have a nerdy child who is frightened of the opposite sex and loves school?
-M
M,
what, you mean like me?
-S
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