Wildflower Writes

As a youth leader, I had come to an inescapable conclusion.  Life is full of choices, and your path is determined by your decisions. This is particularly true with young people, because they are faced with so many decisions in a short amount of time- Do I wear this to school? Do I go to the party?  Do I skip track practice?  Do I ask her out on a date?  Do I apply to colleges now?  As "old" people, we often get in a rut, because it seems like the life changing decisions are over.  We've met and married our spouse, had kids, settled into a career and a house... nothing left to do but to wait it out until retirement.  Or maybe life is so full of meeting other people's needs that you've forgotten that you matter too. Bah!  We still have to decide to be the most we can be (at the risk of sounding like a military recruiter), at any time of our life.  We still have choices to make regarding relationships, new opportunities, and health.  ...

To me, it was an epiphany.  "No one expects you to do this alone." "Really?" I thought.  I had always thought I was expected to just handle everything that came my way.  Even when I felt overwhelmed to the point of tears, or completely alone in my struggle, I just didn't know that it was okay to share the load.  What a relief!  I wasn't a failure.  I wasn't inadequate.  I was human.  In fact, my counselor went on to elaborate, God actually puts people in our lives to love, support, encourage, and challenge us.  In order to build relationships, I had to take down a formidable foe.  Pride.  I had to take off the smiley mask that tried to communicate well-being and self-reliance.  I had to admit I wasn't as strong or independent as I thought I was.  I had to admit I actually needed other people in my life. No one expects you to reach your goals alone. You need people in your life who will encourage you and believe in ...

I’m not a political person. I lean toward one party, but vote what I feel is best. I don’t discuss politics with people, because I don’t like to argue. It seems everyone has a slightly different perspective, even when they are from the same party. I got my hands on a quote from Abraham Lincoln that I found very interesting and apropos to our current economic situation. “You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage by taking away people’s initiative and independence. You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.” Even though the recession has affected almost everyone, it has righted some wrongs. Personal finance gurus have been telling us for year...