Do you really turn into your parents as you grow up? Now, don’t get me wrong, I love my parents very much and they were/are great parents. I was lucky to have a mother who was a social butterfly (unlike this quiet lady typing) and wanted her daughters to have ALL the sleepovers, ALL the fun, and make ALL the memories worthy of looking back on. My father is quiet, stubborn, witty, and logical. The perfect pair I’d say.
Amongst all of the fun and silly adventures my mother took us on, my father was in the background “just in case” we needed rescuing. He’d swoop in and save us from “the danger” and my mother would gallantly frolic over to him to show her appreciation. These two really knew what the other needed. My mother has always had an amazing ability to be positive, no matter how dark of a storm is overhead, and my father always thinks about things logically, even to a fault. It’s good to stick your head in the clouds and just float now and then. But he takes his responsibilities seriously, and his wife and girls were first on that list. He brought wisdom and my mother brought the sun.
I can see my dad’s anxieties now and realize I’ve taken on quite of a few of the same. Worrying about social situations, avoiding large groups if possible, analyzing things to a fault and needing to feel appreciated and important to those your closest to. I see myself in my mother’s desire for adventure…it’s what propels me out of my safety net and makes me ache to discover unmarked territory and explore. She was always a person working on improvement. She wanted to understand her soul in order to grow and work on flaws. And she always encouraged me to do the same. “Seek to understand. Focus on the good!” She wouldn’t shy from being center of attention; she would be goofy and not care (until after the moment was over that is…then she’d worry away)!
Point being, there are many ways that I’m like my dad. There are many ways that I’m like my mother. I don’t see my “soul” in either of them; that’s all internal. But that’s what is so amazing about children and their parents. Children watch, observe, they pick up habits and avoid others…but then there’s this untarnished, unaware, little soul in each of us when we’re born. We come into this world as our real, genuine self. The little soul that hasn’t had anyone teaching us to do things their way. What would each of us be like if we were born and just, lived, grew into who our heart/being/soul came out as? No insecurities developed from bullies, no copied mannerisms or lifestyle habits formed…just you. I can’t help but wonder…who would you be?
