Just this morning I finally found an old friend I'd been looking for for the last ten years, on Facebook of all things. I'd done her wrong years ago---in the way really young, stupid, religious people do so many people wrong---and have wanted to change that reality for so long. I am really grateful for a potential opportunity to do just that.
It sucks to grow up enough to realize what a black and white person you are. As a teenager, I didn't even realize there was another way to look at the world; everything seemed so cut and dried. Maturity is just the scary realization of how
very much you need to question everything you were taught was gospel truth. It really helps to surround yourself with a slew of people who see the world in shades of gray.
I see the same propensity in my 15-year-old daughter, who takes a great deal after myself. And I sigh; feel a little guilty, feel a little sorry for her... but she'll learn. I had to learn the hard way myself, and that included losing a really good friend over stupid rules. Though I can't foresee the hurdles she'll face, I can at least ensure that the only rules for human behavior that she really needs to trouble herself over while growing up is "respect each other" and "do unto others as you would have done unto you." Period.
That pretty much covers it.
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