I don’t mind slacking.
It is good to relax and just take a deep breath and soak up life. What I don’t like is wasting time, having my time or my son’s time wasted, or wasting someone else’s time. I’ve been to countless scout meetings over the years where I just scratch my head and wonder what the heck is going on. We have to make the most out of that slice of life we dedicate to scouting.
I think we all sense the increased level of competitiveness in the world. It affects everyone, from soccer moms & global industrialists to surfer dudes and Buddhist monks. Too many people competing for too few resources. As the divide between the haves and have nots continues to grow throughout the world, conflict inevitably increases. Life has just become much more complicated than when we were kids. I know it is a matter of life choices in many regards, but again, I think everyone in the world is impacted by advances in computers, medicine, communications, and on the negative side, the spread of diseases, harmful ideologies, and evil beings. Unquestionably, Baden Powell would have wanted scouting to prepare our youth for this changing world. It wasn’t just camping he was talking about when he created the scout motto.
We want our kids to enjoy life and their childhood and step off on their own with a feeling of hope and optimism. Parenting skills can provide them with the love and wisdom they need as a foundation, we shouldn’t tamper with that. It’s the other areas, like school, lessons/practices, and scouting that we need to constantly optimize to help our kids face the challenges of this new world. Doing it with each other’s help is so much more efficient.
Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must move faster than the lion or it will not survive. Every morning a lion wakes up and it knows it must move faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn’t matter if you are the lion or the gazelle, when the sun comes up, you better be moving.
I was listening to NPR the other night and heard this very well spoken guest discuss her views on bringing up kids. She says they should be GEEKS - genuine, enthusiastic, empowered kids. Cool is killing our kids’ spirits, trapping them in an empty media-driven culture. Making them grow up too fast, too jaded … too cool.
Well worth the time to listen, here’s the link:
http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2008/07/bringing-up-geeks/
Read the comments on this page as well. The pro’s and con’s of her message are also interesting.
