Please Live

Remind me to tell my daughter...

 to live for herself and make the decisions that seem right to her rather than make any to please me.  It is so tempting for us as parents to want to be pleased by our children's decisions and to take pride in the fact that they did what we wanted, better known as "the right thing".  Here's the problem.  Every single adult woman I know who has spent most of her life doing things that please mom, are miserable and uncertain about who they are or what they want.  Perfect example: me!  I am not miserable, for now, but I have found myself recently thinking that perhaps my mother's ideas are better than mine.  Of course there is the logic that she has lived longer and would have the perfect perspective on what I would want life to look like for the next 10-20 years.  The problem is that it's her vision, not mine. My darling mother has decided that much of my current life is unstable and insecure, so she wants me to be with a good male friend of mine who has great financial security and move to a great house in a great neighborhood.  All really alluring ideas for a single mother who, quite frankly, might be with anyone willing to take over this damn job!  The only trouble is the passion, drive and fire behind this brilliant brew is not mine and if I drink the potion (no witch puns intended toward my darling mother), I will have no person to blame but me.  I cannot blame the kids, the man, the home or my mother. So simply put, if it ain't your idea for your life and you think it will please lots of other people, DON'T DO IT! Live well in your way and let the others drink their own concoctions.