“I can do ALL things”: Advice (and Commiseration) for the Parents of High School Seniors
Has it REALLY been ten years since this picture? Yes, yes it has. I’m going to cry.
The little gal in the photo above? She will be graduating in one short month…
Which one’s my girl? YOU tell ME? (Photo taken at last night’s choir concert–the LAST one for these high school seniors)
…and suddenly we’ve entered the season of “lasts.” The last choir concert, the last high school play, the last time Mom sneaks into her room to steal I mean, borrow a cute pair of earrings…
How did she get here? How did I?
Grace, more grace and processed food as necessary.
This is a theme that I’d like to explore further, but for today–because it’s a busy Friday and I’ve got another concert to attend this evening–I want to keep this meditation brief. The month of May can be off the CHARTS busy. Here’s how *I* know when the pace of my life starts ramping up:
- Stress Dreams! Suddenly I’m craving more sleep than a narcoleptic, and if THAT weren’t bad enough, my dreams are angsty and full of events for which I’m not prepared. Either it’s a flight that takes off within an hour and I haven’t even started packing, or (in last night’s case) a costume party where everyone’s dressed up but me. Stress dreams! I hate ’em! Do you have them?
- Sneaky Snacky Overeating! As shown in the only partly satirical photo above, I’ve started leaning on junk food to get me through. I’m like that board game my six-year-old loves to play only I’M the squirrel and the prize is FOOD. Except…It’s never win-win, that gas station bag of Combos, because I feel sluggish & dull & just want to sleep, which leads to…
- Stress Dreams! (a vicious cycle)
- Distracted Driving! And I’m the worst, so if you see me coming get out of the way.
- And finally, the biggest way that I know I’m stressing, is that those tears come unbidden all the time! For someone who struggles with depression and with May (appropriately?) being Mental Health Month, this is an area of my life that needs surveillance.
Perhaps you can relate to some or all of the above, and since I promised advice in this blog post’s title, I will provide the vital second half to the “I can do all things” boast. It’s not a boast with its second half, you see, and it’s one hundred percent true (the way I see it): I can do all things…THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME. (See Paul’s Letter to the Philippians: Chapter 4, verse 13.)
That is the ONLY way I could survive the chaos and I propose that you give it (er, Him), a try. When I fall, He picks me up, be it in the form of a friend who offer prayers and gives hugs; daily Mass when I really needed it; a YouTube video by Bishop Barron or Father Mike Schmitz.
And coffee, yes, in absurd amounts, but whether that adds to the stress or alleviates it?
I’ll think about that tomorrow.
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