I think that one of the greatest sources of stress that we heap on ourselves comes when we compare the potential we had when we were teenagers with what we have become. Granted, we did have lots of potential, but we made choices, because … well, you can't have it all. Choosing one opportunity over another means you lost one opportunity. To retrofit an old quote:

No matter what choices you've made, here you are.

It seems to me that some of this stress shows up unconsciously. You might find yourself driving recklessly because the car of your dreams as a child was red. Not logical by any means, but we aren't necessarily dealing with logic here. Logic would tell us that when we start a journey, we could go anywhere, but when you start choosing streets, you do it at the exclusion of others.

You want a personal example here, don't you? Alright, last week I found myself very critical of my , because she wasn't living up to the image of "a " that I formed when I was young. Not very fair to her, I suppose. I don't think I told her of the image she was supposed to be. Of course, at the time I was critical and terse, I didn't even realize what the reason was.

Of course, comparing ourselves with childhood models of expectation is missing the point of life … and that is experiencing it. I love my , and last week, I missed out on some of the experiences of being with my because I distanced myself from her.

Life should be different at this age than your shallow projections and expectations of this age developed when you were younger. It is much more rich and vibrant … but only if you experience it. Enough lecture … now I need to get on with life.