Thursday, October 15, 2015

Try it out - we all will be there

Alex, and his Jesuit brothers, often say the St. Ignatius Prayer for Generosity:

Lord, teach me to be generous.
Teach me to serve you as you deserve;
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labor and not to ask for reward,
save that of knowing that I do your will.

This prayer always brings a sense of peace and, honestly, emotion, to me when I hear it.  Today is no different - and I said it this time.

I also sang Abba's Dancing Queen.



I did both of these because sometimes you just need to let it go, say a prayer and dance it out.

Sound familiar to anyone out there?  My family and friends are happy and healthy.  I have a great job, love, friends, and more than I need.  I also have a teenager having to make his next life decision - where to go to college.  Wait, earlier than that, where to even apply.

We forget sometimes that this step in a young adult's life is not an easy task.  That when we were 17 and trying to make all the right decisions that everyone expects us to it was hard.  That we disappointed our parents.  That we disappointed ourselves.  That this really was the first life type decision we had to make and, despite the fact that we admitted it to no one, we were scared.

For all you kids going through those decisions right now, we were scared too.  More than that, we are scared too.  We want to fix everything for you and we can't.  We want to get your favorite stuffed animal, curl up with you and make it all okay.  We are disappointed in ourselves because we want to fix it and not just give you a chance to do it.  But this is your time, and we are going to let you have it.

I always tell the kids (mine and others of course), the only sure way to not get something you want is to not try.  So take that step, try.  You feel alone but you are not - we are all here for you.  We all have your back and know that you will reach the stars.

Moral?  Sometimes you just need to say a prayer, dance it out (it doesn't have to be to Abba I guess) and try it out.  We will be there, you will be too.