Dear Diary,

If there is one thing that I am asking for from the universe, it is to let her be happy.

Don’t shower her with fears and anxiety. Don’t yank at the strings of her heart until they snap. Allow for her to grow and blossom. Teach her to walk her own path and embrace every step. Don’t make it so when she falls and skins a knee she doesn’t want to get back up.

And take care of her for me. Kiss her forehead before she closes her eyes. Rub her back when she’s racked with sobs. Make sure to remind her to give herself grace for taking a moment to breathe. We all need them.

And as for me? I haven’t really thought that far ahead. Because my happiness comes from knowing that the two of them are okay. When they are in pain, I feel it in my very own bones. Their tears are like poison on my skin. And they don’t need anymore hurt or anymore lost pieces. They have more than enough.

I’m learning to welcome this change moreso as an acquaintance then as an enemy. Going off to college is a beautiful thing and a wonderful new chapter. And it doesn’t erase the other ones already written.

I think the reason why I am so apprehensive when it comes to change is because the only change I know is the one that has scarred me for a lifetime. So because of that, I have viewed transitions as something to be feared and not to be embraced.

Change isn’t always a bad thing. In fact, we develop as individuals when we cannot always see the road ahead, but we know it’s there. We are more accustomed to adaptability than I think we realize. We just have to trust in ourselves that we can do it.

And me, I’m learning to do to just that.

Transformation is a process, and as life happens there are tons of ups and downs. It’s a journey of discovery-there are moments on mountaintops and there are moments in deep valleys of despair.

Rick Warren