Saying and Doing

With your birthdays happening in the next month, I always go back to the day you were both born.

As you both were delivered, I remember clearly when your face rotated towards mine and I saw you open your eyes for the first time and heard you cry.  It is at that moment, I understood that my life had irrevocably been changed.  When I looked down at your face, I felt like I was part of something much larger that I ever could have accomplished on my own.

You learn quickly that your children are not extensions of you, they are individuals.  It never ceased to amaze me how you both changed in ways that I did not anticipate or foresee.  As you grew older, I was really pleased that you managed to embrace all of the strong values that you were raised with and maintain your individuality.  Today I see more of you individually than I see anything that looks like mom or me. 

Until you have your own children (which should be YEARS away from now - these years are for your to chase your own dreams) you will not be able to fully appreciate the depth you have added to our lives.

So when it comes to you both, I have always looked more critically at what people do and what people say to you.  When what people say does not really align with the things they do, I treat them with a high degree of caution.  It is not hard when you like someone to try to make what they say and do align more than they actually do.  When saying and doing do not sound the same, treat that person with a high degree of caution.  It has been my experience that these people will continue to broaden the gap between saying and doing, not close it. 

Always invest in the people who do what they say and say what they do.   And do not lose sleep over the people you end up treating with a lot of caution.  You will learn more and more to trust your instincts.  If it smells like dog shit, looks like dog shit, or has a sign that says "Caution Dog Shit", you do not have to taste it to confirm that.

Also to the young man in Nazareth - well done.   She is one of the reasons I get up in the morning.