The Conscious Parent

down the rules and mean business when we do
It is we who teach our children to know shame by shaming their spirits
and judging them constantly
It is we who teach our children to become anxious by denying the
celebration of our own present as we constantly focus on tomorrow
It is we who teach our children not to like themselves by constantly
categorizing their emotions as those we approve of and those we don’t
It is we who teach our children not to trust the world by betraying
them every time we don’t see who they are in their essence
It is we who teach our children how to love or not love by the extent to
which we love or don’t love ourselves.
We all feel the pull to act in familiar, predictable ways. To detach
from this habit and respond in an authentic, spontaneous way isn’t easy,
though it’s precisely what’s required if we are to parent effectively.
Challenged by raising a spirit that’s individualistic and idiosyncratic, we
simply can’t impose our habitual ways on our children or they will suffer
a loss of authenticity. Instead of forcing our children to contour their
spirit to our inauthenticity, to be a conscious parent is to match our
more-jaded, cynical, resentful, bitter approach to their authenticity.
How fulfilling our children’s lives will be is so very much affected by
their relationship with us. If their relationship with us fails to foster their
internal connection with themselves, their parched souls will seek to
restore this connection through other means. They will look outward to
the boutique, the corporate corner office, the emerald, the casino, the
bottle, the needle, or spouse number one, two, or three. But if their
relationship with us encourages them to engage in a meaningful dialogue