Act 1:
When I picked my son from school the first day after our vacation, I immediately saw something was off.
“What’s the matter?” I asked.
“It was a rough day…” he sighed, “The kids at school mocked me because of my mask.”,
“Why!?” I asked,
“They said it was pink, and pink is for girls…”
Act 2:
The next day as I was about to drop my son off at school, I realized he was wearing a pink mask again. “Son, I said, I especially brought you a blue mask this morning. Did you not see it?”
“I did”
“So why did you take the pink one?”
“Well, I thought about it, and realized pink is just as nice as blue, and who says boys need to wear a blue mask anyway?”
“Are you sure? you know, the other kids might make fun of you again.”
“They might…but I don’t think I need to listen to them, and I definitely don’t think I should behave differently just to please them.”
Act 3:
I like this picture—shown above (taken during our last trip to the French Alps).
I like it because although there is a perfectly comfortable and well-trodden path just to our right, my kids preferred that we all walk knee-deep in the gushing stream running over black pebbles, enjoying the coolness of the water, smiling as we carefully take one step at a time.
So often we follow the beaten path, try to fit in or fear what others will say, think or do if we follow our own authentic path.
Yet, sometimes, it could be so freeing to choose to step off the path into the cool, gushing river.
It may not be the easiest path or the most common one.
Some may even think it is just plain weird or crazy, but in our lives, we often choose to take the path that is adventurous and fun and OURS,
And that has made all the difference.
