Tomorrow my second daughter Taylor turns Sweet 16. This is a bittersweet day for me as her father. Many questions cross my mind…
Bittersweet: Many Questions
- Where did the time go?
- When did my little girl become a young woman?
- Why does father time work so quickly?
- Where will she go to first once she gets her driver’s license?
- What does the future hold for her?
As we age, it’s fascinating how quickly times picks up. Yes, we are given the gift of another day and something else that is rarely discussed: perspective. At 16, life is both exciting and confusing. We are allowed new freedoms, yet we are still under the spell of rules, adults, and peer pressure.
We often long to be older, yet rarely understand that this time in life is loaded with massive growth and idealism. The older we get, the better we think life as an adult is. In a strange twist of fate, if we look back 10, 20 or even 30-years later we often realize that age 16 was an age of many lessons including:
An Age of Many Lessons
- Learning to step into the world of work
- Learning how to become more independent via the power of driving
- Learning how to look at relationships and dating in a whole new capacity
- Learning that our parents meant the best, yet we often didn’t believe a word they said
- Learning that acne and hormones eventually disappear
- Learning that becoming an adult would present not only new opportunities, but also new challenges that we couldn’t imagine having had to deal with when we were 16
I write this, not only to honor my daughter Taylor on her birthday, but also to remind you that each day is both a gift and continual work in progress regardless of age or your present position in life.
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