The Respect of Children

I was sitting in a meeting this past week when I looked up at the wall and saw a row of those framed photos that have a picture that apparently summarizes a single word. You know, those pictures that might show penguins jumping off on an iceberg with the word "Courage" written underneath it. Typically, under this focal word is a definition that describes that one single word. For courage, it might say "Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear." It's usually one of those types of decorations that you might see at a doctor's office or something that can keep you entertained for a minute or two.

Anyway, in this meeting, I saw one of the photos that made me think a bit. It was a photo that had a picture of a group of trees from the perspective of the ground. The photo spanned upwards so that you could see the tops of the trees with the sky above it. The photo headlined the word "Success." The part that stopped me for a moment was the portion of the definition of "Success." One of the lines in the paragraph defined success as earning the respect and affection of children. This made me think about what we are called to do as parents and role models. We can go through life giving reasons as to why other adults might not see "eye to eye" with us, or why people of a different faith might not agree with our morals. There is always an excuse for not agreeing with other adults. But children, of all people, see us for who we are. Sure, children can be fooled, but for the most part, they see the world so honestly. I think that if we can live a life that children will respect, we would be doing pretty well. Doing this would cause us to watch our attitude, our gossip, our language, our mannerisms, our temper, etc...If we can keep this in mind, we might live a more "successful" life.

Just a thought.

CY