Soar

Dear Future Son,

I hope you have a name that brings a smile to faces
I hope you're adventurous and outgoing
I hope you laugh and smile
I hope you are filled with joy
I hope you know that I will always be there for you
And that I love you
However, most importantly...
I hope you fall
Hard
Right on your face
I want you to look across the lawn, up the driveway, down the hallway
And decide to run,
I want you to take off
Running as fast as your little legs can carry you
And when you reach top speed,
I hope you fall and hit the ground hard
Not so that you get hurt
But so that you get hurt and learn to get back up
I want you to fail
Miserably
I want you to set your sights on a goal and give it everything you got
Then, I want you to come up just short
So you learn that success does not come easy
I hope you are not strong enough, or smart enough
So you learn to ask for help
I hope you try something new and are terrible at it
So you learn that practice does indeed make perfect
I want you to have countless "girl problems"
So that you learn that they are not toys to be played with
I want you to have your own heart broken
So you learn that you aren't either
I hope you are forced to wait an agonizingly long time for an opportunity
So you learn the value of patience
I hope you wait too long
So you learn you must go chase your goals
I want you to get punched, kicked, slapped and beat
So you learn that they can hurt your body but they can never touch your soul
I want you to feel the cruelty of being bullied
So you learn that nobody should be treated that way
I want you to be mocked and judged based on your appearance
So you see that their opinions don't matter
I want you be stressed out
So you learn to have fun
Then, I want you to fail a math test
Because you have to work hard to play hard
I hope you get caught in a lie
Because Honesty is, in fact, the best policy
I hope you stare death in the eye
So you realize how lucky you are to be alive

I hope you get caught in a bind
So you have to solve your problem to get out of it
I want you to hit rock bottom
I want you to be caught in the dark without a light and be on the wrong end of a fight
I want you to encounter something worse than anything you could've ever thought of
I don't want you to have the best
That way, when you're ready to leave the nest
You look over the edge into the depths of the abyss of the real world
And say, "I'm not scared, I've been there before...
And I survived"
So now there you stand ready to take flight
I want you to look into the wide open sky
Spread your wings to fly
And realize you can do much more than just fly
Because you lost the game
And you played with fire and were burnt by the flames
Because on the playground you were called names
And you carried the weight of unbearable pain
Because you were furious
Because you were curious
Because you learned from your mistakes
And learned what it takes
Because you conquered it all before
So when you open up your wings
You won't merely fly
You will soar

Love,

Your Future Dad