Your values and virtues are not encoded in your DNA. Having children is not your only hope of passing along all the wonderful attributes your parents gave you. You honor your parents and forward their legacy every time you translate their blessings into real, meaningful benefit to someone else.
I want to tell so many parents that. Wise words. Damn, tortilla chips and cheese sounds awesome. Replace the diet coke with a root beer and some Big Bang Theory on DVD and that sums up my night.
(I don't blame parents for not magically knowing that, though. I've had to slap myself across the face with it more than a few times, and I'm *amazing*...!)
To quote an obnoxiously overused religious phrase:
"God ain't got no grandchildren."
Values, virtues, and legacy ain't something you inherit, but something you accept. And something that's only as real as you live it. It's bigger than the individual, than family, than community... but family is, perhaps, the best incubator of all of 'em.
Walkin' it, and talkin' it - both together honor the one that imparted it. Whether they were parent, teacher, mentor, or friend. Right on.
3. Growing up in a Best Case Scenario does not make you less interesting, mature, or worthy than someone who didn't. Your job is not to feel bad for being a squishy white homebody hobbit who's never missed a meal or tangled with tragedy. Your job is to translate the privileges you've enjoyed and the advantages you've had into something of value for other people.
Man, I hear ya'. Not that I'm exactly Mr. Best Case Scenario myself, but maybe I'm pretty close. It's a terrifically awful thing to ask someone to be ashamed for having the people around them, by and large, 'get it right.' Just like tragic Mary Sue's are not the most interesting characters, neither are people made more substantial because their circumstances sucked. It is, in literature and in life, about what you do with what you've got, and how you address challenges and pick challenges TO address that matters.
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I want to tell so many parents that. Wise words. Damn, tortilla chips and cheese sounds awesome. Replace the diet coke with a root beer and some Big Bang Theory on DVD and that sums up my night.
Reply
(I don't blame parents for not magically knowing that, though. I've had to slap myself across the face with it more than a few times, and I'm *amazing*...!)
Reply
"God ain't got no grandchildren."
Values, virtues, and legacy ain't something you inherit, but something you accept. And something that's only as real as you live it. It's bigger than the individual, than family, than community... but family is, perhaps, the best incubator of all of 'em.
Walkin' it, and talkin' it - both together honor the one that imparted it. Whether they were parent, teacher, mentor, or friend. Right on.
Reply
Man, I hear ya'. Not that I'm exactly Mr. Best Case Scenario myself, but maybe I'm pretty close. It's a terrifically awful thing to ask someone to be ashamed for having the people around them, by and large, 'get it right.' Just like tragic Mary Sue's are not the most interesting characters, neither are people made more substantial because their circumstances sucked. It is, in literature and in life, about what you do with what you've got, and how you address challenges and pick challenges TO address that matters.
Reply
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