“Inspire the world as you’ve inspired me” is the message my daughter wrote on a journal she gave me a couple of years ago. I think about how have I inspired her and what is the gift I can give the world? I can admit that raising my children have taught me to be a leader. 25 years ago when my son was born I felt an overwhelming responsibility that I had to help, guide, raise a child to grow and develop to a happy, healthy, and productive human being. The thought was frightening! How do I do that? I ventured to read a few parenting books, took a few early childhood education class at the local community college and began to understand the nature of learning – a light bulb went on in my head – I need to be a facilitator not a director, guide learning, not controlling the destiny. Well, I have a type A personality; I had the need to control! With the new found revelation I needed to transform myself.

The challenges we face as parents stem from thinking of our children are our possession instead of a gift that are trusted to us to nurture and guide. And the best gift we can give them is the decision making skills. All else will fall into place if they know how to make sound decisions. All the disciplines and rules will not guarantee success and happiness in life, so think about it…next time you are so mad at your child for not following the rules or the direction you gave him, stop and ask yourself how much more valuable lesson it is for him to understand the natural consequences of his actions. Only then he will do the right thing in the future. Fear of you will not help your child to make good decisions; it will push him to hide his actions and/or decisions from you. The question is can you manage your emotions enough to be a facilitator to your child? This takes personal transformation and ability to be centered, control ego, and manage emotions.