Summer Driving and Life Milestones

Driving back from my stepson's graduation from Army boot camp in South Carolina today there were summer greens, long shadows, warm air, the clicking sound of the road passing underneath the truck and deer spottings along the edges where the fields meet the woods at the day's end.  I value freedom, autonomy and the open-endedness that summer affords me, and I relished all of these things on the drive.

My stepson finished 3rd out of 700 soldiers in the entire bootcamp in physical training.  He values the structure and rigor of the career he's chosen, and it meets a need to take care of his family.  He's excited about his next adventure and wonders if he should have chosen a more challenging role in the Army that would have presented him with more arduous basic training.  I tell him I think he's proven himself, but I chuckle, too, because I understand that tendency to always be wondering what more I could do.  He's motivated by a purpose he has defined for himself.

Though we're following very different paths, I'm incredibly proud of him and the focus and determination he has been able to channel.  Because he's chosen work that meets his needs and is aligned with his values, he is propelled forward with an exciting energy.  He's taken a leap into his future, and at 19 years old, he really still has his whole life ahead of him.  The truth is, however, that we all have our whole lives ahead of us--no matter our age.  

So, with the utmost love and respect, I thank him for helping to secure the freedom that I value, I put a bunch of white light around him and vow to myself to enjoy something about summer every day!

If you stop right where you are and recognize that you have your whole life ahead of you, what purpose could you find that meets your needs and is aligned with your values?  What would make your life incredibly worth living?