My Class Motto Didn't Prepare Me For Real Life
Once upon a time, I was Senior Class President and one of my biggest responsibilities was planning our graduation.
I remember being on a student and staff committee and an important task was choosing our class motto.
*Why didn’t anyone sit us down to tell us how life really worked?
Perhaps then we would have tweaked our motto to read:
“One step at a time (mostly not forward) and on all kinds of paths with wide-ranging terrain and extreme weather conditions.”
Who’s with me?!
Speaking of paths, I had two literal ones back in high school:
The path I traveled less often was one I created behind my house that lead into the woods.
My feet would walk happily and carefree on the soft grass during spring and summer, crunch atop the leaves in fall, and then sink into the quiet snow in the winter.
This path lead to my secret tree on the edge of a field with Strasburg Road in the distance. I would climb the tree and sit on a long branch with my back against the trunk. I was like a motionless hawk, incognito, watching the cars and life pass by.
This time was magical to me because I could just be. Be one with nature and with myself. I used the time to create, imagine, pretend, and dream. And most definitely, it was a time to clear my head and reset.
The path in front of my house that lead me into the world daily, Hubbard Road, was no joke. It was a dusty dirt road filled with potholes and ruts.
Every spring the road would morph into a thick muddy cauldron of car-swallowing mud. More than once the local farmer, Calvin Smith, had to pull me out of the deeply grooved channels.
I’m thinking about high school nostalgia because my reunion is coming up but more importantly, this is also the summer that my daughter graduated from high school.
I’ve been very reflective and emotional about her milestone because it hit me that I’m here witnessing the next cycle of life.
Kennedy’s about to start on her path and I’m sad, happy, nervous, and excited all wrapped up into one big crazy emotion.
My role has gone from being Class President to Family President, AKA Mom, and choosing a motto for her to follow has taken on so much more significance. It takes my breath away, actually, because she’s mine and I don’t want to mess her up, you know? Even though I’m sure I have in countless ways because being a parent is the ultimate definition of ‘crapshoot.’
Here’s how I interpret my class motto today.
I wrote this for you, Kennedy, and for anyone else looking to understand and find their paths.
The potholes, ruts, and stop-you-from-taking-any-steps-forward thick mud are all part of life. They’re gonna happen to you. They happen to everyone.
You will keep landing in the same potholes and ruts until you figure out how to go around them so always keep your eyes open so you can see and learn from the lessons they’re teaching you.
You will stay in and be overtaken by the quicksand-like mud the more you struggle against it so learn to surrender to what is so you can break free and continue moving forward.
You will take many more consistent steps forward throughout life when you find your peaceful path and go there often to quiet your mind, be still and now, and allow yourself to reset so you can fill up with life, intuition, and genuine happiness.
*Why didn’t anyone tell us how life really worked? Well, they probably did but I’m sure we weren’t listening because we were F**#ing Seniors ready to conquer the world!!
LET ME HEAR FROM ALL OF YOU OUT THERE:
What was your school motto? Does it still apply? What have you learned since high school? Please share your comments below!
How’s your relationship with yourself?
Did you know that most high-achieving women are in horrible relationships with themselves without even realizing it. And it gets in the way of *everything.
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