Safe and Sound

Despite the trimmings and trappings of each holiday that a child experiences, what they truly desire is security. At home, at school, at play...children and adults alike long for this security. What does security mean exactly? Is it the comfort of financial stability? Is it an attentive parent to hold you when you scrape your knee? Is it a friend to call when you experience turmoil? I suppose it is each of these and so much more.

Children have an innate sense to determine when all is right in the world. For instance, my own children can nearly smell a storm. The moment clouds gather on the horizon, the proverbial fur on the back of their necks stands up and they run for the door. Citing " a storm coming", they no longer want to be outside with the potential danger of a tornado. (Keep in mind that we are in no way near tornado country!) For the purest of human beings, the sense that a storm is out of the ordinary, deters them from the outside environment.

The same can be said for the child who hears her parent's fighting and runs to hide in her room. I cannot stand the moment when a person's voice escalates in anger. Something within me shrivels and retreats to a place where I must feel safe from aggression. Instability is an uncomfortable feeling which inhibits my ability to contribute effectively to a conversation.

I have only longed for security in my life. When watching "The Wedding Singer" and listening to Drew Barrymore try to explain to an artistic musician Adam Sandler that all people need security, I identified with the struggle to justify this desire. At this juncture, I am working increasingly to ensure that I will be able to provide this for myself. Education and ambition combined, I must now rely on good fortune to smile down upon me and open the doors to opportunity. I am exhausting the hours in the day and the energy of a young tiger to succeed. Hard work pays off. There's no such thing as a free lunch. Que sera, sera...Whatever will be, will be...and it will. I will make sure of it.