10 Things EVERYONE Should Know!

Ten Things I Want My Daughter to Know Before She Turns 10

By Lindsey Mead Russell

Huffington Post

I came across this article while reading the Huffington Post one day.

I printed it out to read to my munchkins.

I thought it was a beneficial reminder for myself as well.
A little update for my spirit.

I think this applies to all of us.
Even those of us above the age of 10.

1.  It is not your job to keep the people you love happy.

Not me, not daddy, not your brother, not your friends.  

The hard truth is that you can't anyway.

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2.  Your physical fearlessness is a strength.  

Please continue using your body in the world: run, jump, climb, throw.  I love watching you streaking down the soccer field, or swinging proudly alone on a row of monkey bars, or climbing into the high branches of a tree.
 There is both health and a sense of mastery in physical activity and challenges.

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3.  You should never be afraid to share your passions. 

 Anyone who teases you for what you love is not a true friend.  This is hard to realize, but essential.

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4.  It is okay to disagree with me, and others.  

You are old enough to have a point of view, and I want to hear it.  So do those who love you.  Don't pick fights for the fun of it, of course, but when you're really feeling I am wrong, please say so.  You have heard me say that your right, and you've heard me apologize for my behavior or point of view when I realize they were wrong.  Your perspective is both valid and valuable.  Don't shy way from expressing it.

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5.  You are so very beautiful.  

Your face now holds the baby you were and the young woman you are rapidly becoming.  I can see the clouds of society's beauty myth hovering, manifest in your own growing self-consciencusness. I beg of you not to lose sight with your own beauty, so much of which comes from the fact that your spirit runs so close to the surface.

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6.  Reading is essential.  

It is the central leisure-time joy of my life, as you know.  I am immensely proud and pleased to see that you seem to share it.  That identification you feel with characters, that sense of slipping into another world, of getting lost there in the best possible way.

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7.  You are not me.  

We are very alike, but you are your own person, entirely, completely, fully.  I know this, I promise, even when I lose sight of it.  I know that separation from me is one of the fundamental tasks of your adolescence, which I can see glinting over the horizon.  I want you to know I know how vital it is.  I'm going to be here, no mater what.  

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8.  It is almost never about you.  

What I mean is that when people act in a way that hurts or makes you feel insecure, it is almost certainly about something happening inside of them, and not about you.  I know how feelings can slice your heart, even if your head knows otherwise.  But maybe, just maybe, it will help to remember that almost always other people are struggling with their own demons, even if they bump into you by accident.

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9.  There is no single person who can be your everything. 

 Be very careful about bestowing this power on any one person.  Trying to fill that ache with other people (or with anything else, like food, alcohol, numbing behaviors of a zillion sorts you don't even know of yet) is a lost cause, and nobody will be up to the task.
You will feel let down, and, worse, that loneliness will be there no matter what.  

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10.  I am trying my best.  I know I'm not good enough and the mother you deserve.  

I am impatient and fallible and I raise my voice.  I am sorry.  I love you and your brother more than I love anyone else in the entire world and I always wish I could be better for you.  I'll admit I don't always love your behavior, and I'm quick to tell you that.  But every single day, I love you with every fiber of my being.  No matter what.

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Peace and love,