I got to hang out at a coffee shop with this diamond the other day. My mom heart was in full bloom as I listened to my daughter chat away about life, college graduation, and how much she’s grown over the past four years. Young people are amazing.
We worry so much about our girls (and boys) growing up in today’s world. The list of crouching lions waiting to pounce on their sense of self and well-being is beyond. If we allowed ourselves to go down every rabbit hole of ‘what if’ it’s doubtful we’d ever sleep or breathe deep again. Trust and surrender have to be our daily bread.
And to be quite honest, it’s my daughter who’s been an important role model for showing me how to inhale and exhale through my fears. She, like so many of her friends and peers, has figured out how to stand strong, speak with courage, fight for truth, lead with compassion, and love with a beautiful blend of tenderness and fierceness. She believes in herself and in others, no matter who they are.
Did I have something to do with who she’s become? I guess in some ways because I loved her long, wide, far, and deep and built up her capacity to love herself the best I could. But it’s her faith—and the faith I see in so many young people today—that lights a fire in my soul and moves me to tears on the daily.
I hear a lot of smack talk about Millennials for being lazy, aloof, self-absorbed, etc. When I do, I’m quick to offer a different viewpoint. Having three millennials of my own means I’m around gobs of them because of my kids’ extended friend groups. The short list of what I see in these young adults is this:
