Place Markers

Anything we tell our kids about life is a place marker until they figure it out for themselves. ~Robert Brault,

Well Robert Brault may have penned this phrase with children in mind, but I think it fits well for all of us. Advice given is always just a placeholder, because it is never until we reach that dog-eared page in our own story that we truly understand the message.

I got to savor this wisdom last weekend during that ‘packed in like sardines’ car ride I took with my family. Tight quarters tend to draw fertile conversation and that’s just what I got to enjoy with my 22-year-old daughter. She took the opportunity to ask lots of questions, and I happily explored all sorts of answers with her. I was willing to share my musings out loud, but I was also very aware that my words were only for reference, because the  wisdom that she really needs will come from her own experience in life

However our journeys unfold, they are always as unique and beautiful as we are. We can offer our wisdom as a place holder for another, but the stories themselves… we each have to write our own.