Last updated on June 23, 2015
The daily prompt today is spot on, yes, I turned out pretty good. I made it. I am a middle aged lady with a wicked sense of humor…I am still alive and kicking’ and hopefully will do so, for many more years to come. Since I turned out so good, why in the name of whatever God, would I want to change anything about my childhood?
The good and the bad comes in a package with the ugly, the writers of that screenplay got it right. It’s always a package deal and we better accept the package, before it might get returned.
Let me give you an example.
My parents were violent alcoholics and the first years of my childhood were tough. Then I moved in with my Grandmother and had the best childhood a kid could ask for. So why would I change a thing? Let’s say I would wish that my parents would have been different. That would mean I would miss all the beautiful years I had with my Grandmother. What a bad hand I would deal myself.
I guess I am supposed to say “I wish I would have never smoked”, since this too is part of my childhood. But that’s not true either. I remember so many funny and priceless moments.
I met great people because I was a smoker, met them at places, where we were cubed in, because we shared the same addiction. One of them is my husband, another one would be one of my dearest friends. I already wrote about that, in my post “Dog or car” (here).
As for the younger generations, they will turn out pretty good as well, if we let them make their own mistakes and their own experiences.
40 years ago I was sitting at an old kitchen table and my Grandmother told me, she wished things would be different for me. She didn’t understand some of the modern stuff like TV and telephone, hated our music and our clothes. She wished my childhood would be more like hers, thought my generation was pretty superficial. Today I catch myself wishing the same for the generations behind me and then I realize, that I have turned into my Grandmother.
Life these days is different, some of the changes I don’t like and I guess that’s alright. Maybe it’s the way it’s suppose to be? We, the older generations hold on to our memories, share our wisdom -in case we have any- and the younger generations make their own memories and will sound just like us in about 40 years.
So, to answer today’s prompt, if I wish one thing away, or change it…wouldn’t it change me and the way I turned out to be? Wouldn’t it affect everything?
I wouldn’t change a thing, not even the bad stuff.
PS. May I ask for a positive daily prompt once, I would be in the mood to write about laughing until I cry.
Childhood Revisited
Sure, you turned out pretty good, but is there anything you wish had been different about your childhood? If you have kids, is there anything you wish were different for them?
I just have to look in the mirror to see my mother! My grandmother had a big influence on me as well, so I get grumpy about certain things, just as she did. Love you post!
I am glad you liked my post. We do turn into the ones who raised us well don’t we? I suppose it’s a good thing, I start to like it.
Your philosophy on these matters matches my own. I don’t look back – the past is unalterable although it did form me – and focus instead on the future. We all have our phantoms which can haunt a bit but don’t have to be in the forefront. I chuckled once reading a quote about how rude kids are today and how ill-mannered. It was written by an ancient Roman. We all end up our grandmothers if we’re lucky.
Loving your positive attitude in reflecting back on your life. I agree that all aspects of our life shape us and bring growth. It is in how we see those and move from them that makes all the difference.
Remember “sliding doors”?
Well , sometimes even inconspicuous details may determine the course of one’s life….
Now , the sum of whatever occurred to me , has made me …just Me!
So there ‘s nothing to complain about , if I want to be realistic…
Very well said my friend, very well. No, I don’t remember “sliding doors”. Book?
Film , with Guyneth Paltrow etc…
Don’t remember the director’s name…
A big hug!
I feel much the same way. I wouldn’t be who I am today if I hadn’t experienced every little thing I’ve experienced. So I wouldn’t change a thing.
Lots of food for thought in your post. I wondered at the end of mine how my life would have been different had that one incident not happened. In retrospect, how do we know things wouldn’t have been much worse? Great post.
I just turn the prompt into what I want to write about–Just use it as a jumping-off spot. The daily prompt isn’t your “boss!” As we used to say in childhood…ha. https://grieflessons.wordpress.com/2015/05/29/second-chance/
I find the posts that are off subject more terrible than anything, if I may say so.
You may certainly say so, NSL, as polite debate is always welcome and I’ve appreciated all of your comments in the past as well. I agree with an earlier comment that some prompts seem to be better prompts than others as may be evidenced by what bloggers post in reply to them, but the fact that they give us alternatives seem to suggest that they know they are necessary. The first factor is that they are now repeating prompt subjects so frequently that after the second time of writing to the same prompt, it is necessary to veer off a bit. A second thought is that after earning a masters degree in writing and teaching writing for 10 years, I took a 3 year workshop from a master writer and teacher who taught us that the difference between mere writing and literature is often breaking the rules. It took me ten years of not writing to come back to it from a perspective of “non-knowing” and to write from the heart rather than the brain. Since then, I have used rules as diving boards, not flotation devices. I try to do this with the prompts as well. The point is always good writing, even if it means digressing from the prompt at times. Happy writing! Judy
Good writing is way overrated. Good writing doesn’t sell books, neither does it keep readers entertained…only a good and interesting story compared with good writing can do that. I had to study and read so many book. Some books are well written and put me asleep, some keep me captivated and I don’t want them to end. It is after all although a question of taste. Have fun with the prompt your way 🙂
Positive? A positive prompt? Is there any such thing?
Ooops that was an oxymoron wasn’t it.