I often reflect back on raising two my children alone. Learning that the needs of the child must come before the wants of the parent This is true even when the child does not want what the parent must teach.
I used to imagine my children as a boulder at the top of a cliff. Possessing immense potential energy. It was my job to prepare them to know when and with what force to make the choice to roll down that cliff. And when the choice was to simply stay, still. That everything we do, and they do must be done with thought. And careful consideration as to how it affects all things around us. They did not always like me for these lessons. But they grew up learning harmony and oneness with all things. We all possess that potential energy. It does not matter if it is taught at the dinner table. Or the family camping trips. What matters is that we teach those who depend on us that we are indeed, what we surround ourselves with. I strived to teach them to keep their list of wants on a very short list. This did not make me the most popular mom. But they have grown to focus on needs more so than wants. And that wants may be manifested and come back around to us in stride with what we put out. So long as we are a service to those around us at all times, and service too, ourselves.... .Our potential energy is moving in the right direction. We are one with all things, and with one another. These lessons wear not always easy to teach or learn. But they were necessary. What, I learned, is it being adored, isn't nearly as important as purpose. And that even in the times when we feel the least accepted, we will in turn and in time, be rewarded for these deeds. We are all one. We must all carry one another and all things.
Because we are all that boulder at the top of that cliff, possessing all of that potential energy.
It is what we choose to do with it that will count the most