Teach your children to live with hope

A group of tourists came into a small village, and found an old man standing next to the road.
The bus stopped and a man jumped out. “Sir, sir, can you please tell us what great man or woman was born in this village?” the old man kept on chewing on a piece of grass for a while, and then looked up. “In this village, only small babies are born, no great men or women,” he replied.
This wise old man knew an important truth. Great men and women are not born, they are shaped, and they are formed to become great. This responsibility lies firstly with us as parents. Every great man, every successful man and woman had a mother and a father. They had somebody to help them become what they are today. In the same way, every corrupt politician or business man, every person who devises evil or injustice, also had a mother and a father, or somebody who helped them, who played a role in their becoming what they are today.
We were not voted in to be parents, we did not even do a course to be accredited as a parent, but it is the greatest responsibility on Earth to be a parent. To be a parent is a gift, a great privilege. In raising our children we are shaping the future!
A pattern for life is shaped in them as we raise them day by day. In shaping the future we can only give what we have. You cannot give something that you do not own.
So what you have in your hand, and in your heart, is all you will be able to give to your child. Stop for a moment. Ask yourself, what am I giving to my child? You see, we are shaping the future in our children today by what we give them! The way I speak, what I speak, the way I react even to the frustrations of daily living is giving them a pattern of life. They see what is important, they hear how to handle and rise in life.
Life is not easy. That is a fact, but the way we interact with life, the way we address the challenges we as parents face in our own lives, will give our children a pattern, a map, to chart a better or worse future in their own lives. Ask yourself this pivotal question: What is really important to me?” What do I really want for my child? What do I believe is true success? Is it a good job, is it a good income? Is it a loving family life? Or maybe to be a person living with peace and joy in their heart of hearts? Work it through, work it out, and come to ground zero.
You see, as parents we need to realise that we live in an ever-changing world. What is important today, like a degree, or costly education, might not be that important tomorrow.  It might not be able to ensure that you will have that good income after all.
I’ve seen that the most important things in life are the ‘inside’ things. The values, life-patterns, the mind-sets and emotional choices inside our own lives. These are the things that give stability. Everything else can be taken away from us, but the ‘inside things’ add structure to your life and will put you on the pathway for great advance and success. As parents we must realise that what we think, what we say, and what we do will shape a life pattern for our children. So decide if you want them to live in hope, or in fear and despair. Your life, your choices, will make a great difference to them. Realise your responsibility as a parent and start to make the changes you need inside your heart in order to set them up for a bright future.
At the end of the day the choice is yours, and the choice is mine. If you have to change the way you speak, the way you think, the way you do, in order to build a better future for your child… choose to do it, and then start doing it!
We, and in a sense our children, will live by the choices we make. So make your choices and love your choices, because at the end of the day you will have to live your choices!