In Time

In time we learn how to weather the struggles life throws our way.
In time we understand that This too shall pass;
But for awhile, it's all new, all consuming and so very painful.
As I stand witness to my daughter's first heartbreak with a boy, I can feel my own heart gripped like a vice. It's a flashback of my own past, and my own questionable choices with men and relationships over time. Is this my fault as well? Are her choices now a reflection of what she saw the woman in her life do as she grew up? Or is this just how life goes?

I can see so clearly how this can be fixed, I can drop my pearls of experience and share my own lessons learned, but no matter how well intended and full of life's Wisdom I am, I can't fix this for her, I can only stand by with open arms and a listening ear to catch her when either she finally has enough of the pain, or he pushes her out completely and leaves her alone.
It feels like a real double edged sword because if he does it, that leaves her even more vulnerable and hurt because she cannot understand WHY she wasn't good enough to be his girl; if she cuts the chord and walks away she begins to find her worth and understand her value, and even though it will still hurt, at least she did it for all the right reasons and can hold her head high. None of us like to feel rejected or unworthy of love. What we don't yet know at 21 is that rejections sometimes come as blessing in disguise. Time teaches us that temptations come often times to see if we will take what we have learned and use the information for our greater good or if we will ignore what we know to follow what's appealing in that moment.

In time we learn that not everyone will stay, and that's OK.
In time we accept that each person and experience that we encounter is part of our own unique experience here and will lend life lessons and opportunities to grow into ourselves; but, in the vastness between there and here, it's all we can do just to keep breathing and believe that we will be alright.

In time...just simply in time.