Originally Posted: MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2008
"The challenge of life is not living up to the expectations of our parents. It is living up to the expectations of our children."
-paraphrased from Sam Johnson, former CEO of SC Johnson, a Family Company
Sam Johnson spoke these words during a documentary of his trip that retraced the trip of his father to find new sources of carnauba wax for the family company. While I'm sure that he gained a new appreciation for his father's original trip, I believe that Mr. Johnson learned more about himself and his life.
Many in the psychiatric community believe that our parents play a pivotal role in our lives before the age of three. Many of the values and decision models we use over the course of the rest of our lives are etched into our subconscious in those first 36 months of life on Earth. Our life map.
But what happens when our lives are very different from those of our parents? What happens when our parents lived and taught from a model that no longer exists for us? What happens when our parents never treated each other with respect and love? What happens when we need tools that we never received?
We cannot possibly know how life will unfold for our children. And the more children we have (and my wife and I have five), the more varied the outcomes of their lives will probably be. But there are a few things that we can know with a great deal of certainty:
-paraphrased from Sam Johnson, former CEO of SC Johnson, a Family Company
Sam Johnson spoke these words during a documentary of his trip that retraced the trip of his father to find new sources of carnauba wax for the family company. While I'm sure that he gained a new appreciation for his father's original trip, I believe that Mr. Johnson learned more about himself and his life.
Many in the psychiatric community believe that our parents play a pivotal role in our lives before the age of three. Many of the values and decision models we use over the course of the rest of our lives are etched into our subconscious in those first 36 months of life on Earth. Our life map.
But what happens when our lives are very different from those of our parents? What happens when our parents lived and taught from a model that no longer exists for us? What happens when our parents never treated each other with respect and love? What happens when we need tools that we never received?
We cannot possibly know how life will unfold for our children. And the more children we have (and my wife and I have five), the more varied the outcomes of their lives will probably be. But there are a few things that we can know with a great deal of certainty:
- They are going to need to know how to show someone that they love them and care about them. Not only as a friend, but at a very intimate level. If you never saw that in your family of your origin, chances are you don't know how to do this. And it's not clear to me just where you go to find the instruction manual. If you know, please share the location!
- They are going to need to know to keep learning. The world changes at a very rapid pace. If you don't believe me, check out where the Dow Jones Industrial Average was just a month ago! I believe it was Benjamin Franklin who said "Learning is the only true sign of life," and I think that he got it right. I'm currently on my fourth job, and will probably have one or two more before I am done. I've worked on cleaning products, diapers, dusting cloths and now beds. And even with all of that learning, I still have a lot to learn about life.
- They are going to need to know that all of us travellers on the planet Earth are in this thing together, more so today than ever before, and likely less than tomorrow. Technology has made the world a very small place with few secrets. The sooner we can understand each other, the sooner we can help each other make tomorrow better than today. Reading about the collapse of global financial institutions and how we all plan to pay for our next tank of gas leads me to believe that we have a long way to go.
- They are also going to need to know that they can never quit and give up hope. Hope brought our forefathers to this country. Hope mended us after the Civil War. Hope brought us back from the Great Depression. Hope put us all on a rocket ship to the Moon. Hope will help us to solve the incredible problems we face today, and the more complicated, unimaginable problems of tomorrow.
And hope is what drives those of us, like Sam Johnson, who were not given the correct map during the first 3 years of our lives. Hope keeps us searching for answers. Hope keeps us moving along the path to a better life. And hope keeps us working for our children, so we can teach them that even in our darkest hours, there is a better way! And that we will not rest until we teach it to them!
Until Next Time!
Julius
No comments:
Post a Comment