Dear Ashby,
I worry. Shhhh. Don't tell. I despise worrying because worry isn't action. Worry is what victims do. Action is triumph. Everyone used to say I was too sensitive and I worry that you are, too. It's pretty ironic because if someone criticizes that same quality in you, my mother-bear instincts kick-in to overdrive...yeah I'm sensitive. What is 'too sensitive'? Is it curable? Should it be?
My objection is that attempts to 'toughen' me up only served to hurt my feelings and didn't change my temperament at all. With this in mind, I try to teach you to cope and to take action. I know I can't change that things bother you. When those around me hurt, I know it and I feel it, too. I don't think being aware of that is a bad thing. I want you to know that it is in your power to affect change in what makes you unhappy. When this world hurts you, it is your choice to surrender as powerless or to recognize your pain and use that emotional energy to better the situation instead of allow it to consume you.
If you learn this early, you can harness the power of your depth of feeling and recognize the control you have over your relationship with this world. I work really hard to give you choices and that your decisions and the right choices can better your life and the wrong ones have consequences. I take offense that being sensitive is bad. There's a long line of feeling deeply in your family. You have a lot of fire-cracker genes in you and it works both ways. It can hurt you and it can hurt others. However, if you have the tools to manage the power of your feelings I really believe that your life can have a texture and vibrancy that makes the unavoidable pain and joy worth every moment. I love you, little man. I always thought all of the worry mom and dad had was silly because I was always fine. I suppose the kid in me should have a talk with the mom in me, huh? When you feel deeply, it's inevitable that your strength builds like scars and we end up 'strong like bull' and the joy we feel that much more exquisite.
I love you,
Mommy
I worry. Shhhh. Don't tell. I despise worrying because worry isn't action. Worry is what victims do. Action is triumph. Everyone used to say I was too sensitive and I worry that you are, too. It's pretty ironic because if someone criticizes that same quality in you, my mother-bear instincts kick-in to overdrive...yeah I'm sensitive. What is 'too sensitive'? Is it curable? Should it be?
My objection is that attempts to 'toughen' me up only served to hurt my feelings and didn't change my temperament at all. With this in mind, I try to teach you to cope and to take action. I know I can't change that things bother you. When those around me hurt, I know it and I feel it, too. I don't think being aware of that is a bad thing. I want you to know that it is in your power to affect change in what makes you unhappy. When this world hurts you, it is your choice to surrender as powerless or to recognize your pain and use that emotional energy to better the situation instead of allow it to consume you.
If you learn this early, you can harness the power of your depth of feeling and recognize the control you have over your relationship with this world. I work really hard to give you choices and that your decisions and the right choices can better your life and the wrong ones have consequences. I take offense that being sensitive is bad. There's a long line of feeling deeply in your family. You have a lot of fire-cracker genes in you and it works both ways. It can hurt you and it can hurt others. However, if you have the tools to manage the power of your feelings I really believe that your life can have a texture and vibrancy that makes the unavoidable pain and joy worth every moment. I love you, little man. I always thought all of the worry mom and dad had was silly because I was always fine. I suppose the kid in me should have a talk with the mom in me, huh? When you feel deeply, it's inevitable that your strength builds like scars and we end up 'strong like bull' and the joy we feel that much more exquisite.
I love you,
Mommy
