Serenity

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Saying this over and over in my head today. Letting your child fail is so hard. I just want her to succeed. I want her to always do her best. Right now, she isn't doing her best. Maybe I put too much pressure on her. Maybe I am too controlling. Maybe if I let go, she will prove to me that she can do it on her own. But it's hard to let go. For now, for my own peace of mind, I HAVE to. I can't keep obsessing about this and trying to make her do better. I can't follow her around and make sure she does what she is supposed to do. It's her job. It's her responsibility. And if she fails....well I guess that's on her. She will pay the consequences and hopefully learn from her mistakes. Sigh. Raising a teenager is brutal.

The Things They Carried

Well, I fnished "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brian. It took a bit for me to get into it. But by about half way in, I was hooked. This is not a book that I would typically read. I don't read much, but when I do, I definitely don't read books like this. I read books more along the lines of "Hunger Games" and "Divergent." Heck, I even read the Harry Potter series and The Twilight series. I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed this book so much. I don't like reading about war. I don't like reading about things that make me sad. Especially when it is things that really happened. I mean, maybe not exactly the way the book said, but they happened. But the way the book was written, I mean yes, there were parts that made me sad, but it was different. Not sure how to explain it. It just sucked me in. I am taking an 8 week World Lit course that begins in a few weeks. I have to read "The Complete Persepolis" for that course. I was hesitant to enroll in these courses but I knew that it would be good for me. I really need to expand my creativity and just thinking in general.I have always wished that I enjoyed reading more and I think these courses are going to greatly help with that!