I talked to one of my relatives in China on Monday about which direction her grown-up child should take upon college graduation. To be sure, as parents, we all have endless worries about the wellbeing of the children, which is inevitable and is okay as long as we keep them to ourselves and not let it mess up with children’s decision.

I remember a story in which an elderly in a tribe tells the young people the wisdom in life consists of six words. He gives them the first three words before they venture out for a distant land — do not fear. “After you get back from your adventure, I will give you the last three words.” When these people come back for these words, they are no longer young, having covered large part of their life’s journey. Some have been successful in the world, becoming rich and famous, some being the opposite. The last three words given to them are — do not regret.

I was going to share this wisdom with my relative, then again I held myself back. We all have our shares of worries, concerns and anxiety. It is never easy if we could put ourselves in other’s position. Today I talked to my son over the phone and learned that he seemed to be going farther and farther from the road that I have expected him to go. On the one hand, you expect young people to venture out of school, fear not and be independent, on the other hand, you expect them to come back when the break is over and not to be too independent. He might fear nothing, but I have the fear that the company might keep him longer than the summer. What about his school? I told him, “You got to go back to school and get your degree or you will regret if you don’t.” How about the elderly’s six-word wisdom — do not fear, do not regret?