“Why does everyone else have a girlfriend?”
I sat up in bed awake. Staying up way too late apparently wasn't unusual for me (before teenager-dom) but this topic of conversation had never come up before.
“Why do you think that's true, sweetie?” Mom asked.
“Well, everywhere I go, people are girlfriend and boyfriend. Even [that friend I still know] has one!”
Mom used to scratch my back to put me to sleep at night. She did this for longer than I'd care to admit, but I'd be lying if I said I would pass out were she to do it today.
On this night, I remember the scratches slowing down as she spoke.
“You don't have to have a girlfriend, Todd.”
The thought had honestly never occurred to me. I'd always wanted a girlfriend (well, at least since Kelsey and Lacy sent me competing valentines in kindgergarten).
“Right now you should be worried about things that matter to you. You should be playing golf. You should be reading. You should be spending time with your brother.
“There will be plenty of time to have a girlfriend later.”
Although this advice sounds petty, the lesson she was trying to drive home (and continued to do so over the next few years) was this:
It's easier to go forward than it is to go back.
My parents, mom specifically, was very deliberate about what we added to our lives. If we could live without it, we did.
She knew every step in life has the potential to be a chain if it comes at the wrong time.
Thanks mom <3
Read other answers by Todd Brison on Quora:
- If you could give one piece of advice for a very smart but lazy guy to get off his butt and do something with his life, what would it be?
- What important things did you learn about life when you first fell in love?
- Which book has taught you something valuable and important in life? What lesson did you learn?
from Quora http://ift.tt/2cnPemZ
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