This weekend, I'm going on a retreat with my church's confirmation class, accompanying my mentee, one of the most amazing people I know.This is hugely significant for me. When my kids were young adolescents, I avoided scary, hormonal, judgmental, throngs of kids at all costs. The biggest challenge of my life, at that time, was mustering the courage to roll into the middle school cafeteria and face hundreds of eyes that I was sure would judge me "defective". My already shaky self-esteem could not support the added weight of that much disregard.
I was dead wrong. But, I had to change before I could see that. The best gift I could have given my own kids and their classmates was to roll into that cafeteria, overweight, disabled, and full of self-love. It would have been a powerful antidote to the poison of the false and life-robbing values perpetuated by our damaged culture that worth is based on beauty (or athleticism, intellect, etc.)
So, I'm different these days than I was then. Interestingly,and amazingly, I find that, not only do I have something precious to offer, but young adolescents are attracted to it, even the cheerleader girls with the attitudes (especially them!). One of the best gifts I have to pass along to my young friends is just to be with them and let them witness a different way of being with one's self. One that offers upwardly spiralling freedom and life instead of the fear-based lies with which they are daily bombarded.
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