As I Age

As I'm finding myself giving in to the second phase of life, with all of its up and downs, curve balls and neverending life altering decisions, I'm finding that it is easier for one to float in a sea of calm as opposed to fighting the turbulent waves of a season change...

It no longer concerns me what others might think, or, say about my character, whether those things said are negative, or, positive. What does inspire me to strive to be the best person I can, however, is the love I have in me for 'self' family and the young, impressionable children who will come after...

Because I'm so intuned to the idea of my life's purpose, and the ideal of giving back, offering up truths from having lived life experiences and advocating to young women the importance of learning to love themselves; I am the first person to hold a mirror that examines my true face in search of faults that must be identified and fixed, first from within.

If I am to use lessons I have learned in order to help someone else on their journey of self-discovery, then, I must pass my own test steeped in morals, values, pride, compassion, humility, faith and belief in a higher power...

The other day, my young granddaughter called me to tell me how she was feeling so stressed over the very idea that she might not pass to her next grade level, simply because she had gotten a poor grade during the last marking period in Math.

The notion that my daughter's child, my grandchild could have such worries at the age of 12, caused me to drop everything I might have considered important.

We went over her grades from the last four marking periods. We calculated how the D she'd received the third period might take away from the B, she'd received the second and the A, she'd gotten from the first...

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When all was said and done, the two of us, talked about the possibility of her ending the marking period with a very low D, or if God willing, a C...

My heart hopeful, yet a bit somber, I kept my voice light as I encouraged her to pray for either outcome as the final grade point average were to be posted.

I also admonished her a bit, for not letting her teachers and parents know that she wasn't grasping fractions as well as she'd done in other areas of Math.

We ended with my reassuring her of my continued love and support and the adage that sometimes we fail in order to do better, but, she need not worry, because she wasn't going to fail.

A couple of evening passed and there was a voice mail. My granddaughter's voice was light/lilting, as she told me how much she loved me...I called my daughter. Our girl had passed her fourth marking period with a "B"

It doesn't take a lot to offer advice. To make yourself available for comfort to others. To promote awareness. to offer an ear, a prayer, invoke confidence...make a person smile...

Such small offerings as these; are what I'm finding myself more concerned with as I age.

I suppose it is to become my purpose as I continue to live,learn and counsel from life experiences...