Last week I went to northern California to see my son, his wife and my three granddaughters who are the ages of 7, 11 and 14. It has been over fourteen months that I have not seen them in person, so I was over the moon to be with them. With my oldest granddaughter, Isabella, we often try to do something alone so that we can have some quality time together. I am often surprised at the deep conversations we seem to have when we are together, usually initiated by her.
As we started our hike, she looked at me and said, “Nana, I have a hard time staying in the present moment.” I was surprised by her comment, and I asked her, “what do you mean?” She continued by saying, “well, I’m going to high school this year and I’m already concerned with what will happen when I graduate, that life is going to be different for me. Then when I go to college and finish college, my life will be different again. When I get married, when I have children, my life will always be changing so I’m always looking ahead thinking and worrying about all the changes.”
I was taken aback by her concern about the future, she is only fourteen years old, but this young girl is wise beyond her years, she always blows me away. She was able to recognize this about herself and articulate it to me. [For all those grandparents out there, we know, these are the moments we live for with our grandchildren.] I responded by saying, “life is always going to change, you’re going to change. When you finish high school, college or get married you will not be the same person. You will have grown up in your thinking and in the way you see the world. The most important thing you need to be concerned with is this very moment because you cannot control the future and it’s way too far to even worry about it.” She responded, “I know, I know.” Ah, there's the teenager I know and love.
This was my conversation with a young teen, but how many of us are constantly worrying about our jobs, our families, our children, our health only to see none of it manifest. So much time is spent on fearing what can happen only to not see it manifest.
