With all the perseverance I can muster,
I attempt to wholeheartedly embrace my karmic ties,
My children most of all, affected by my choices.
Uncertainty about my choices hits me unexpectedly.
Misgivings about how I have parented leads to irresolution.
Doubt leads to remorse, regret deepens.

Yet my sorrow leads to tenderheartedness.
It isn’t a contradiction. Not one or the other.
Not black and white, but all of life’s colors.
Tenderheartedness leads to compassion.

Looking backward or forward is uncertainty.
Embracing genuinely the tender heart is beyond reproach.
No ifs ands or buts.