Tell It To Me Tuesday - A letter

...to our Nation's daughters.  That was Jade's challenge this week.  I have to admit my first reaction was that this was going to be easy, I've got three of them living under my roof.  But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I didn't want to write something fluffy or silly just for the simple fact that I have three of them under my roof.

So here goes nothing.

To the Beautiful Daughters of Our Nation:

This world you now live in is so different from the one I grew up in.  High-end technology when I was just starting in school was a VCR.  And they were big.  A night out as a family usually meant McDonald's, and we loved it.  I love that my parents allowed me to be a child and to have fun and be silly and to have few responsibilities.  I sure had fun.  But I realize now that maybe I had it too easy.  I say this because I am constantly telling my own daughters that life isn't always easy.  That you must work and sometimes harder than you ever thought possible.  Sometimes I feel like I'm making them grow up too fast.  Sometimes I just want things to stay simple.  But life isn't simple.  Life isn't black and white.  Our world is filled with stunning color, but the shades of gray are what you must be aware of.  You must acknowledge differences with respect.  The world I grew up in was limited by geography.  There weren't cell phones.  Computers were starting to be available to the everyday person, but there was no internet.  We had floppy drives; floppy drives that could be bent or melted, which meant you lost your work.  I think this separation made life more simple.  Today's world is filled with so much going on all.the.time.  I am at fault for this as much as the next person.  I have my smart phone and keep in contact with people by email, Twitter, and Facebook on my phone as well as on the computer.

I'm not saying it's easy, but you have to respect yourself and believe in yourself.  You must believe that you are capable of doing whatever you set your mind to and follow your heart.  If you are happy in your heart and your mind, others can't wield power over you.  You are the only one who can make choices for you. You must be able to live with the consequences of your choices.  And consequences aren't usually fun - even for adults.  You you must spend time figuring out what you can do to be happy, not who you must be with in order to be happy.  This is true for all relationships.  Good friends are hard to find.  When you find a good friend, work at the relationship.  A good friend is invaluable.  Remember that in order to find the few good friends who are really and truly your friend, you must be a good friend.  And that means sacrifice - sometimes big sacrifice and a lot of times little sacrifices.  And being a good friend means that you don't mind the sacrifices.  That you have each other's back.  I can't emphasize that idea enough.  If a relationship is to be successful, any relationship, you must be willing to go to bat for each other.  If one person is constantly giving while the other takes, the relationship will die.

In closing, the most important thing to remember is The Golden Rule.  Do they teach that anymore?

Do unto others as you have them do unto you.

If everyone would remember to do that before opening their mouth or reacting, the world would be a much nicer place.