Dear Daughter

I don’t know what it’s like to be a parent, but if I had a daughter, this is what I would want to tell her. And, maybe this is what the “Daughter in me” needs to hear this, too. Maybe you need to hear it too.

Dear Daughter,

I’ve said before (many times in fact) that I hope you hold less adventure in your soul than I did in my youth. You don’t even exist yet, and I don’t know if you will, but there are things that I fear, things that I have learned, and things that I hope for and must tell you.

My heart was drawn to far away places, foreigners, and finding the unconventional. The times that I could have found myself in trouble were much too numerous to count. “That could have turned out badly,” is a sentence that I’ve uttered more than a few times.

But no Daughter; I wasn’t wild or stupid or reckless. I was curious, inquisitive, and trusting— qualities that I adore in myself but know create opportunity for disaster. The reality is: The world is not always beautiful, the people in it not always good, and luck not always on your side.

Love life for it will love you back. 
Expect the best, and accept disappointment.
Don’t be naive; for more than once in your life, you will experience someone that will take advantage of you, pain you will want to run from, and sadness that engulfs you.

But even more often, do good and that good will return to you. Karma is real. People will help you when you are in need. You will find the answers you are looking for, and you can endure the drama.

God exists. Find him.
He’s probably right in front of you.

Careful what you say you would never do. You don’t know what you are capable of— for good or for evil. Daughter; I hope I support you, love you, and encourage you as the beautiful individual that you are and will become.

Be honest with yourself and in your life.  
No one expects you to be perfect.

Some relationships will work out and some won’t. Don’t hate or regret the ones that didn’t. Sometimes you must walk away from someone absolutely wonderful only because they weren’t exactly your absolutely wonderful.

And sometimes, you will have no idea what to do next, and that my Dear Daughter, is when you come back home to Mom just for a hug, the tears to be wiped from your eyes, and someone to tell you, “You will be just fine.”