It's so hard to stand back and watch things happen to your kids

I find it difficult to stand back and watch things happen to my kids. This runs the gamut from heartache to sickness to being overinvolved. I watch, and sometimes comment or counsel, but it is so very hard. As a mother I want to protect my kids. At the same time, I know that without life experiences, they will not learn. Better for them to learn while they are under my wing than when they aren't, true? That's how I have to look at it. It doesn't make it any easier, by any means, but it makes it manageable.
Sometimes I want so badly to just do everything for my girls. I want to do it so that they can be spared. That, I've learned, does them no good. So, I've learned the hard way to pull back. I've learned to let them take the driver's seat and go through the curves, hills, and dirt roads. I've wept, smiled, and hypervenilated many times. I've been on the learning curve the same time as they have, I suppose. As I've said before, parenting comes with no manual. That's why it's so difficult.
I've learned to pray, pray, and pray some more. That's what gets me through.