A Lesson in Accepting your Parents

When I look back on my life thus far and take the time to think about who I am and what I have accomplished I feel a sense of pride. Not because I am conceited enough to think that I am simply the bees knees and not because I alone have conquered every obstacle that has crossed my path, but because of the person that my parents raised me to be.

I feel very strongly that too many people attribute the person that they are (especially if boring, useless, lack luster or down right horrid) to their parents and the failures they have made in creating another human being. It is very easy to take a look at the mistakes they have made and blame them rather than considering mistakes of your own.Ultimately I think that accepting your parents walks hand in hand with accepting yourself…

Growing up, we are told time and time again that making a mistake should become a lesson in life and not something negative, that in failure we should strive to find success. So why is it then that we cannot give our parents the same understanding?

My parents were/are far from perfect, but somewhere betwixt divorce and being shunted back and forth between two complete polar opposites for years – I became the result and I am damn proud of who I am today.

Final thought: 

If ever you become a parent, or perhaps, if you already are one – take the time to look back on the moments you thought your parents had failed and then take a look at your own… We are all only doing the best we can for those we love so dearly and if we aren’t, the result is quite miraculous nonetheless…

A Tribute to White Wine

There comes a time in life where you need to acknowledge that you are over the loud, commercially designed and popular haunts that you once adored. That the toxic poisons Vodka/Stroh Rum/Tequila that you once swigged by the mouth full simply to ‘get your freak on’ every half an hour hoping to find a willing mate (with or without beer goggles on) – are no longer a part of your life, or perhaps, can no longer be stomached.

Suddenly memories of the golden liquid, that somehow managed to leave an unstable Aunt Ethel (more aptly nicknamed Aunt Ethanol) both happy and sad at the same time at every family function without fail, come flooding into your mind in the same way it now floods your tummy after a hard days work..

A drink once sour and vinegar-like, a drink that you once associated more with the older, distinguished lady or gentleman, a drink that once simply would not do for your forever empty wallet – has now become the reason to cuddle up on the couch with a good book, be labelled as the pretentious couple that invites friends over to try the new ‘Fat Bastard Savignon Blanc’, enjoy a night in with people that you can actually have an intellectual conversation with and be your very own confident and opinionated self with.

Three cheers to becoming an adult and embracing it with our overdue bills in one hand and a large, chilled glass of white wine in the other!!