Victory Unlimited
Master Don Juan
Objective: THE LEGACY MISSION: How to save the CHILDREN!
<<<<< This a repost of Victory Unlimited's reflections on the experience of childhood, and also, a few observations of his on how the early influences of adults can leave a LASTING IMPACT. This was originally inspired by a War Room Debriefing he had with GENERAL KARMA SUTRA of MATURE MAN FORUM-FAME...>>>>>>
In answer to the unspoken question-----"NO", I am not a parent, but I have been a child before------and some would say that I’ve behaved like one for a DECADE or two longer than I should have been allowed to…
But this post made me think of some things that I’d like to share with the Fathers and Mothers on here that you may find some value in:
There is an old scriptural adage that says “Train up a child in the way in which he should go, and when he becomes older, he will not depart from it.”
The danger I see in that statement is where I believe some parents (including my own) may have missed it is in WHERE they have chosen to place the emphasis. Parents who train up a child in the way in which he SHOULD go are often those who make the mistake of ONLY guiding that child by their own perspective ONLY-----while taking into account NONE of what makes THAT particular child unique.
These are the men and women who raise their kids to be what THEY want them to be, instead of recognizing what that child COULD be. These are the parents with the narcissistic blinders on. They'd rather try to live THROUGH their kids----as opposed to just living WITH them as the “temporary” caretakers they were always meant to be.
This is why the other emphasis appears to be the BETTER plan of action-----to instead, train up a child in the way in which HE should go. The difference is subtle, but choosing to MAKE that slight difference can have a life-changing effect on a child's destiny.
If a man or woman raises their child to the best of their personal understanding, but all the while, choose to keep “learning” who their child “is”, they may actually discover far EARLIER the temperaments, the gifts, and the DREAMS within that child’s heart. And by nurturing those talents, encouraging that unique potential that they see inside of them, but all the while BEING that loving AUTHORITY FIGURE in their lives------perhaps THEN, the raising of that child could be a little less traumatic than it would have been otherwise.
No plan is foolproof, but I have noticed that children who are raised THIS way seem to have a better chance of actually living their TRUE CALLING, as opposed to just living “a life”.
Any life worth living is worth doing whatever it takes to LIVE IT WELL.
There is another old adage that says that “Children are like arrows shot from a bow”.
I used to wonder what that meant in my younger years, until I took a little time to think about it. Then I recognized that poetry, scriptural texts, and much of LIFE itself can be a metaphorical GIFT to us. And these “gifts”, for those who CHOOSE to unwrap, unravel, or decode them, can often offer us valuable INSIGHT into Life’s underlying meaning.
I submit to you that this is by NO MEANS an exhaustive interpretation (for ALL truth is pregnant with MORE truth, and yet GREATER truth), but ONE possible meaning that I derive from that symbolic adage is that Parents are the MARKSMEN. The BOW is all the lessons that those parents have learned, combined with their willingness to share that knowledge through GUIDANCE. And the ARROWS? Well, the arrows, of course, are the children.
But what are they AIMED at?
The answer is THE WORLD, and more specifically, THEIR place IN IT.
For MANY, like myself, the soldiers-in-the-army-of-ONE, the legacy we leave behind will ONLY be composed of our gifts, our creations, and whatever other tangible and intangible marks we leave on the world prior to our passing.
But for MANY, unlike myself, the soldiers-with-children, the legacy they leave behind will be composed of not ONLY the things I've previously mentioned-----but also, the ability to FURTHER impact this world through the lives of their children.
Troops, there is HONOR in BOTH scenarios-----but there seems to be the potential for a more distinctive, if not NECESSARILY greater, RESPONSIBILITY placed upon the shoulders of those who have children as opposed to those of us who do not.
It would appear that a GOOD parent’s MISSION of LOVE is embarked upon the moment they demonstrate their WILLINGNESS to take the life of their child into their own hands (like a BOW), to raise that child (like an ARROW) by taking into account that child’s temperaments, strengths, weakness, gifts, and propensities. Then, “aiming” that child at the Target of Opportunity (his or her PLACE in this world where they will stand the best chance of making the greatest positive impact upon it).
As I look back upon my own childhood, one thing that’s clear to me is the delineation between where my innate wisdom ended, and where my imparted wisdom BEGAN. And even though they are both intertwined NOW-----this was not always so. It is at this point where I can recognize those gifts of guidance my parents gave me, and also, the LACK of those gifts in certain areas where I see myself as being deficient.
It is because of THIS that I now recognize that two of the greatest gifts a child can give back to his parents (the GOOD parents), are the gifts of APPRECIATION (for what they did right while raising the child), and FORGIVENESS (for those things that they may have done wrong in raising the child). And the thing that INCREASES the likelihood of a parent, DJ or otherwise, of “receiving” these gifts is something called RECOGNITION.
Recognition by that child of the motivations behind that parent’s actions----recognition by that child of that parent's INTENT-----and in retrospect, if that intention is seen as GOOD in the eyes of that child, then that’s when the “arrow” once shot from the “bow” will return to the “marksman” like a BOOMERANG. But unlike before, when that child returns, he or she will most likely have become an ADULT----an EQUAL.
At least, that is how it has happened in MY OWN life.
DJ Parents…After your child-raising mission has long been accomplished, do you WANT your children to return to you ONE DAY with appreciation and forgiveness in their hearts????
Yes?
Then, it will ALL be because of the RECOGNITION of the love, the care, and the RESPECT that you once showed them when you were doing your part in “launching” them like miniature missiles out into the world to impact it in a way that you always knew that only "THEY" could.
And again, though I am NOT a parent at this moment in time…I can only imagine that THAT day, in and of itself, would be a special “kind” of REWARD-----all it’s own.
Peace…one day.
<<<<< This a repost of Victory Unlimited's reflections on the experience of childhood, and also, a few observations of his on how the early influences of adults can leave a LASTING IMPACT. This was originally inspired by a War Room Debriefing he had with GENERAL KARMA SUTRA of MATURE MAN FORUM-FAME...>>>>>>
In answer to the unspoken question-----"NO", I am not a parent, but I have been a child before------and some would say that I’ve behaved like one for a DECADE or two longer than I should have been allowed to…
But this post made me think of some things that I’d like to share with the Fathers and Mothers on here that you may find some value in:
There is an old scriptural adage that says “Train up a child in the way in which he should go, and when he becomes older, he will not depart from it.”
The danger I see in that statement is where I believe some parents (including my own) may have missed it is in WHERE they have chosen to place the emphasis. Parents who train up a child in the way in which he SHOULD go are often those who make the mistake of ONLY guiding that child by their own perspective ONLY-----while taking into account NONE of what makes THAT particular child unique.
These are the men and women who raise their kids to be what THEY want them to be, instead of recognizing what that child COULD be. These are the parents with the narcissistic blinders on. They'd rather try to live THROUGH their kids----as opposed to just living WITH them as the “temporary” caretakers they were always meant to be.
This is why the other emphasis appears to be the BETTER plan of action-----to instead, train up a child in the way in which HE should go. The difference is subtle, but choosing to MAKE that slight difference can have a life-changing effect on a child's destiny.
If a man or woman raises their child to the best of their personal understanding, but all the while, choose to keep “learning” who their child “is”, they may actually discover far EARLIER the temperaments, the gifts, and the DREAMS within that child’s heart. And by nurturing those talents, encouraging that unique potential that they see inside of them, but all the while BEING that loving AUTHORITY FIGURE in their lives------perhaps THEN, the raising of that child could be a little less traumatic than it would have been otherwise.
No plan is foolproof, but I have noticed that children who are raised THIS way seem to have a better chance of actually living their TRUE CALLING, as opposed to just living “a life”.
Any life worth living is worth doing whatever it takes to LIVE IT WELL.
There is another old adage that says that “Children are like arrows shot from a bow”.
I used to wonder what that meant in my younger years, until I took a little time to think about it. Then I recognized that poetry, scriptural texts, and much of LIFE itself can be a metaphorical GIFT to us. And these “gifts”, for those who CHOOSE to unwrap, unravel, or decode them, can often offer us valuable INSIGHT into Life’s underlying meaning.
I submit to you that this is by NO MEANS an exhaustive interpretation (for ALL truth is pregnant with MORE truth, and yet GREATER truth), but ONE possible meaning that I derive from that symbolic adage is that Parents are the MARKSMEN. The BOW is all the lessons that those parents have learned, combined with their willingness to share that knowledge through GUIDANCE. And the ARROWS? Well, the arrows, of course, are the children.
But what are they AIMED at?
The answer is THE WORLD, and more specifically, THEIR place IN IT.
For MANY, like myself, the soldiers-in-the-army-of-ONE, the legacy we leave behind will ONLY be composed of our gifts, our creations, and whatever other tangible and intangible marks we leave on the world prior to our passing.
But for MANY, unlike myself, the soldiers-with-children, the legacy they leave behind will be composed of not ONLY the things I've previously mentioned-----but also, the ability to FURTHER impact this world through the lives of their children.
Troops, there is HONOR in BOTH scenarios-----but there seems to be the potential for a more distinctive, if not NECESSARILY greater, RESPONSIBILITY placed upon the shoulders of those who have children as opposed to those of us who do not.
It would appear that a GOOD parent’s MISSION of LOVE is embarked upon the moment they demonstrate their WILLINGNESS to take the life of their child into their own hands (like a BOW), to raise that child (like an ARROW) by taking into account that child’s temperaments, strengths, weakness, gifts, and propensities. Then, “aiming” that child at the Target of Opportunity (his or her PLACE in this world where they will stand the best chance of making the greatest positive impact upon it).
As I look back upon my own childhood, one thing that’s clear to me is the delineation between where my innate wisdom ended, and where my imparted wisdom BEGAN. And even though they are both intertwined NOW-----this was not always so. It is at this point where I can recognize those gifts of guidance my parents gave me, and also, the LACK of those gifts in certain areas where I see myself as being deficient.
It is because of THIS that I now recognize that two of the greatest gifts a child can give back to his parents (the GOOD parents), are the gifts of APPRECIATION (for what they did right while raising the child), and FORGIVENESS (for those things that they may have done wrong in raising the child). And the thing that INCREASES the likelihood of a parent, DJ or otherwise, of “receiving” these gifts is something called RECOGNITION.
Recognition by that child of the motivations behind that parent’s actions----recognition by that child of that parent's INTENT-----and in retrospect, if that intention is seen as GOOD in the eyes of that child, then that’s when the “arrow” once shot from the “bow” will return to the “marksman” like a BOOMERANG. But unlike before, when that child returns, he or she will most likely have become an ADULT----an EQUAL.
At least, that is how it has happened in MY OWN life.
DJ Parents…After your child-raising mission has long been accomplished, do you WANT your children to return to you ONE DAY with appreciation and forgiveness in their hearts????
Yes?
Then, it will ALL be because of the RECOGNITION of the love, the care, and the RESPECT that you once showed them when you were doing your part in “launching” them like miniature missiles out into the world to impact it in a way that you always knew that only "THEY" could.
And again, though I am NOT a parent at this moment in time…I can only imagine that THAT day, in and of itself, would be a special “kind” of REWARD-----all it’s own.
Peace…one day.
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