Once in a Lifetime

                Grand Rapids.  It’s not a half bad city.  It’s nicer than Detroit and it actually looks cool from the freeway.  Even so, I’d rather not be dragged there for the weekend. 

                My mom was raised by Republican farm folks in Montana who belted you for talking back.  My dad was raised by a drunken, disillusioned Vietnam vet and a mom who had to deal with a boatload of children.  Needless to say, both of them turned out to be strict parents.  There was no Xbox, no PlayStation, no Wii, no technology of any kind really until one year they finally gave in and got my sister and I each a Nintendo DS.  It was better than nothing.  I didn’t have a phone until 8^th Grade, and even then it was an old-fashioned flip phone.  I couldn’t be home alone until high school.  I have to do a sport or get a job.  My mom threatened me by saying I had to get a full ride scholarship or else I’d be going to OCC.  Luckily my dad calmed her down.

                I’ve seen movies and read stories about kids growing up to basically become their parents.  I don’t think that’s true.  I think that we are shaped as people not simply by the people around us, the events that happen to us, and the challenges that face us, but by how we choose to react to those pressures.  My mother reacted to her parents by joining a shady group of friends-but when that turned out the wrong way, she went back to the ways of her parents.  My father reacted by swearing he’d never be like his father.  He’s still paying off student loans from college.  He’s done arguably the best of any of his many siblings. 

                When it comes to life, you can choose the path you want to take.  You can accept that the challenge is too difficult and watch your happiness fade, or you can accept that challenges can be overcome.  It is those who overcome challenges who succeed.

                My parents have been overcoming challenges their whole life.  I understand where they’re coming from.  I understand that they want me to overcome the challenges too.

                I’d just rather not be dragged to Grand Rapids.  To me that seems counterproductive.  I guess I just don’t fit with my parents’ image of spending every waking hour thinking of the future and preparing for it.  I’d like to enjoy myself a little first.

                

                (Today's title is from the song Once in a Lifetime by Talking Heads)