I have always hated clothes shopping. Hated it with a passion. Would consider walking around naked to avoid it. I am the proud parent of a 13, soon to be 14 year old daughter. A beautiful, thin, long red haired daughter. Who happens to be a clothes horse. A serious clothes horse. We got to our first store at 5:15 p.m. tonight. We left (after purchasing 8 shirts and having her try on triple that) at 6:30. We still had stores to go to. We didn't make it. I swung through the local grocery store, the chinese restaurant and home (7:30 p.m.) I am exhausted and all I had to do was pay the bills! I am ready for bed!
She's amazing! She has her own style, nothing cookie cutter about her. She knows what she likes and ain't afraid to say so. She is happy with who she is, she is happy with her looks. She is at home in her skin. She now has braces, which is all she's wanted for 2+ years. That was the only thing she hated about her body, her teeth. Her world is perfect.
I marvel at that. I know grown adults with less than half the confidence she has. You don't rattle her. She doesn't get upset easily. She gets mad, mostly at her brothers, but life just doesn't have that kind of hold on her. After one of my daily whines about this or that, she calmly said to me "oh stop getting upset. You can choose happiness, so do so. Frankly, they aren't worth this. They aren't worth this kind of energy. Why waste your time with them?" This from the mouth of a 13 year old. She reminds me of the old story of the 2 monks. Both monks belonged to a monastery that forbid talking during certain hours and absolutely no touching of females. On their way to town one day, both monks see that a boat had capsized in the river and a woman appeared to be drowning. Without missing a beat, one monk threw off his robes and dove into the water. He saved the woman by getting her to shore. He put his robes back on and joined the other monk, who was standing there with a shocked expression on his face. When the time for talking finally arrived, the older monk turned to his younger monk and said "I don't understand it! You not only broke the silence, you disrobed, and jumped in the water and saved that woman. You know we forbid touching females. I can't believe it!" The older monk went on and on. Finally the younger monk turned to him and said "Of the two of us, I believe you carry the larger burden. It took me 10 minutes to save that woman. I saved her an hour and a half ago. You have been carrying her ever since." My daughter got that story. At 13. My 19 year old son doesn't get it. I don't think my husband truly gets it. But she does. And I stand in awe.
She has confidence the size of Mt. Everett. She inspires me to rise above it. She always says that everything is a choice. So choose happiness. She does. I know of no one happier than her.
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