Talk about a powerful moment. One that totally caught me off guard. I was playing with my nieces the other evening. Sledding was the mission. I, of course, was thinking we'd go on smaller hills as the girls are 7 and 4. When we arrived, though, our options were limited. Little snow meant only a few "choice" paths...on the big hills.
The girls shreaked "YAY!!"...and I let out an internal primal scream.
After much debating, I had a brilliant idea. I figured we could walk to the top and look down. Of course, I was assuming they'd be scared straight off the hill. Ohhhhh no. Not these fearless ones. The top just added to their passion.
"Let's go, Auntie!"
Sigh.
Well, the older one went first. I was a little nervous, but I knew she would be able to hold on for dear life and probably be just fine. When it came to the younger one, though, I was really nervous to let her go. She's the baby, you know...and I wasn't ready to let her grow up.
I went back and forth in my mind about whether I should let her go. I tried my best to make her think that it wasn't a great plan. Nope! She was determined. So after much analysis of real danger, I decided that I should let her try.
Ugh!! It was sooooo hard!!!! I literally teared up when I let the sled go...I knew she'd come back a "big girl".
And she did it!! She did just great! She squealed and giggled the whole way down. She was a sledding pro! The part of me that grieved was quickly met by the part of me that was SO proud of her.
As I've been thinking more about it, I've been realizing that it's a bit of a metaphor for life. It's just that I'm sometimes the one on the sled not sure if I should go or not....knowing that I'll be different if I do. But what a great ending too!!!...that sense of accomplishment and the personal growth will be worth the initial fear.
It won't be good enough to just sit at the top of the hill anymore... ;)
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