PARENTING IS NOT (equivalent to) 'PROVIDING'
This is Contentious!*
I ask : What is your ‘eternal‘ solution, as a concerned adult Ugandan, to the woes blighting our beleaguered nation?!*
To the rampant graft, the blatant misrule, the political sickness, the disillusioned citizenry ...?
Do you recommend ...
Insurrection? ... Remonstrance? ... Walking to Work, or to Picnics?... Going to the Bush? ... Voting the ‘idi*ts‘ out in 2016? ... Entreating the heavens for fire & brimstone? ... ?? ...
Well, THIS IS MINE ...
Whatever your political posturing, religious denomination, educational hallmarks, ethnicity, sanity ... or lack thereof ...
I know you have children under your care!*
This may be as a parent, elder-sibling, academic tutor, mentor, Sunday-school teacher, sports instructor ... name it!
We all, in one way or the other, find ourselves in positions of influence to children - the indisputable posterity of Uganda!
These children ; infantile, young, innocent, naive .... are also extremely impressionable, mouldable, teachable, trusting ...
What‘s this supposed to imply?
That we assure to them health, care, protection, education and all other amenities necessary for good grooming ... YES!
However, this is very insufficient!
Yet sadly, this is the farthest many of us go in our ‘parental‘ roles ...
We concentrate on the ‘shadow‘ ... and end-up losing the ‘substance‘ ... which postulation forms the starting point of my arguments*
The shadow, in this case, being the material inheritance we seek and struggle to bequeath to these children ... whether this takes-on the form of tangible heirlooms such as land-titles & mansions which they can possess; or glorious legacies paved in stone plaques for them to look-upon and aspire to emulate ...
And the reason I liken such things to shadows is because of their fleeting, unsustainable nature ...
Monuments will fall with war, legacies will become obsolete with changing times, land-titles will change hands ...
YET ... what is it that constitutes this ‘substance‘ I so avidly herald ??!
Well, to me, this substance is PARENTING!
Unlike the a fore expounded scenario of fending for children, which basically amounts to PROVISION ... I believe that parenting, in its true form, far exceeds any superficial connotations of material provision!
Parenting, is not just a physical thing - it is a spiritual, almost divine affair ...
It calls for the placement at the disposal of your children all that you are ; without holding back ...
It is fending, it is spiritual guidance ... It is the taking of a child to church, but also the explaining of the true nature and form of God ...
It is intellectual mentor-ship,it is sagely counsel ...
It is stern reprimands, it is friendly chit-chats ...
It is the supervision of homework, it is the assignment of chores ...
It is the purchase of new clothes, it is the teaching of frugality ...
It is the criticism of a government, it is the explanation of civic duty ...
It is the talking of talk, it is the showing of path along which to walk ...
It is the teaching to ride a bicycle, it is the regulation of television hours ...
Yet, ruefully and woefully, nearly all of us are convinced that parenting is the provision of our children with big houses ... and full fridges ... and rides to expensive prep-schools ... and big televisions and big remotes to switch between channels, often unguidedly ...
We are so busy making money, creating legacies and living our serious ‘adult‘ lives ... that we often forget to use these wealthy, intelligent, accomplished & ‘successful‘ lives to serve the true interests of the future - by teaching virtues such as personal & social responsibility, empathy, kindness, self-abnegation, persistence, etc, to the nation‘s posterity!*
A good starting point would be ; something as simple as ensuring that all children under our care have meaningful personal resolutions for this new year, 2013 ...
And believe you me, by being deliberate about inspiring, motivating, and supervising these kids to the accomplishment of their resolutions ... we will have personally accomplished much more success and satisfaction than participation in 1000 walk-to-works may ever bring us!
#Not to take anything away from the nobleness of ''Walk-To-Work'', though!* ...
I ask : What is your ‘eternal‘ solution, as a concerned adult Ugandan, to the woes blighting our beleaguered nation?!*
To the rampant graft, the blatant misrule, the political sickness, the disillusioned citizenry ...?
Do you recommend ...
Insurrection? ... Remonstrance? ... Walking to Work, or to Picnics?... Going to the Bush? ... Voting the ‘idi*ts‘ out in 2016? ... Entreating the heavens for fire & brimstone? ... ?? ...
Well, THIS IS MINE ...
Whatever your political posturing, religious denomination, educational hallmarks, ethnicity, sanity ... or lack thereof ...
I know you have children under your care!*
This may be as a parent, elder-sibling, academic tutor, mentor, Sunday-school teacher, sports instructor ... name it!
We all, in one way or the other, find ourselves in positions of influence to children - the indisputable posterity of Uganda!
These children ; infantile, young, innocent, naive .... are also extremely impressionable, mouldable, teachable, trusting ...
What‘s this supposed to imply?
That we assure to them health, care, protection, education and all other amenities necessary for good grooming ... YES!
However, this is very insufficient!
Yet sadly, this is the farthest many of us go in our ‘parental‘ roles ...
We concentrate on the ‘shadow‘ ... and end-up losing the ‘substance‘ ... which postulation forms the starting point of my arguments*
The shadow, in this case, being the material inheritance we seek and struggle to bequeath to these children ... whether this takes-on the form of tangible heirlooms such as land-titles & mansions which they can possess; or glorious legacies paved in stone plaques for them to look-upon and aspire to emulate ...
And the reason I liken such things to shadows is because of their fleeting, unsustainable nature ...
Monuments will fall with war, legacies will become obsolete with changing times, land-titles will change hands ...
YET ... what is it that constitutes this ‘substance‘ I so avidly herald ??!
Well, to me, this substance is PARENTING!
Unlike the a fore expounded scenario of fending for children, which basically amounts to PROVISION ... I believe that parenting, in its true form, far exceeds any superficial connotations of material provision!
Parenting, is not just a physical thing - it is a spiritual, almost divine affair ...
It calls for the placement at the disposal of your children all that you are ; without holding back ...
It is fending, it is spiritual guidance ... It is the taking of a child to church, but also the explaining of the true nature and form of God ...
It is intellectual mentor-ship,it is sagely counsel ...
It is stern reprimands, it is friendly chit-chats ...
It is the supervision of homework, it is the assignment of chores ...
It is the purchase of new clothes, it is the teaching of frugality ...
It is the criticism of a government, it is the explanation of civic duty ...
It is the talking of talk, it is the showing of path along which to walk ...
It is the teaching to ride a bicycle, it is the regulation of television hours ...
Yet, ruefully and woefully, nearly all of us are convinced that parenting is the provision of our children with big houses ... and full fridges ... and rides to expensive prep-schools ... and big televisions and big remotes to switch between channels, often unguidedly ...
We are so busy making money, creating legacies and living our serious ‘adult‘ lives ... that we often forget to use these wealthy, intelligent, accomplished & ‘successful‘ lives to serve the true interests of the future - by teaching virtues such as personal & social responsibility, empathy, kindness, self-abnegation, persistence, etc, to the nation‘s posterity!*
A good starting point would be ; something as simple as ensuring that all children under our care have meaningful personal resolutions for this new year, 2013 ...
And believe you me, by being deliberate about inspiring, motivating, and supervising these kids to the accomplishment of their resolutions ... we will have personally accomplished much more success and satisfaction than participation in 1000 walk-to-works may ever bring us!
#Not to take anything away from the nobleness of ''Walk-To-Work'', though!* ...
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