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Saturday Aug. 22, 2015

 

Cause of my success? Largely me.

Yet every part of me, built on something foundational – from parent, teacher or mentor.

Failures – I’ve had plenty – similarly credited, most to me, to my efforts. Smaller credit (or blame?) to those who brought me here, got me here or pushed me here.

Acknowledging angst in pity-party moments, easy to blame others. Nothing changes our past. Similarly, we cannot channel lives of children. Still, we’ve all tried.

Time passes. Influence we might have had eroded from little, to zero. We are not party to their successes, but we own/wear responsibility for their difficulties.

Why?

We can.

We might (rightly) be accountable for difficulties based on something we did. Or didn’t. Not saying they’d be always right, but recognizing if they believe it, then it is true whether it happened just that way or not ...

Sweet/funny moment yesterday – at a bank with my daughter Carla. We had Isla and Alex along. (funny having that banker explain she thought we were husband/wife as opposed to father/daughter, back-peddling to apologize. She was in the hole, didn’t know to stop digging … hilarious).

As we were leaving, Isla went across that lobby to visit a similar age/size boy. She said hi, gave him a little hug, then a kiss.

I wondered where that came from. Was that in her from her parents, from her grandparents – or was it all her?

Cute moment she won’t remember, but one I’ll never forget, or fully understand.

Maybe we all ARE our own person – even when we are three.

We don’t understand lots.

Compared to how much we might, we understand little …

 

Mark Kolke

written / published from Calgary, AB

morning walk:  5C/41F, clear, chilly breeze – and blue sky hope for a warm afternoon! … walking alone – Gusta still at the kennel (her spa weekend), it feels strange to walk in a straight line without a leash tugging me one way or the other 


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