RAISING CHILDREN RAISES US
By Shannon Leone
Wouldn’t it be something if our children came to us with instructions? Ah, but that would be too easy…However, we discover in our role as parents a vehicle for growth of the highest order. Parenting is a sacred task, a magic mirror accurately reflecting a clear and revealing portrait of our inner self.
Raising a family is richly rewarding. But there are times when navigating choppy waters of growing pains, sibling rivalry, or fussy eating can be rough sailing indeed. It seems like as soon as you get a handle on the latest crisis there is another one hot on your heels.
There are no easy answers, but if I had to, I think I would place my bets on two golden rules of thumb: Rule #1 – Every child is a STAR! All children are gifted without exception. I recall a fascinating and very moving example of such genius at work in a young boy once featured on the Oprah show.
Because he never learned to sit up, crawl, walk or talk, this child was labelled by specialists as a ‘vegetable.’ His mother never accepted this bleak prognosis for her son and resolved to treat him with the same regard for his dignity as she showed her other kids. She would read him bedtime stories, take him to the beach with the rest of the family and explain all the things concerning him despite him external silence.
One day this mother had an idea which would finally give voice to the song in his soul. She created a board of alphabetical letters and placed it on the table in front of her son. Cupping his elbow in her hand from behind she would sense nearly imperceptible sensations registering his will to move and so she would assist without actually guiding him in any particular direction. She thought she noticed a word being formed by letters his hand landed on. And then another word. She scrambled to find a pen and paper. Sure enough a message was channelled: “To judge another is to judge God.”
I still get chills remembering this boy and his profound insight. He was tested extensively by several universities for authenticity, and his gifts proved real.
Every child is a living library with inestimable potential and we can’t afford to overlook or underestimate even one. Children are love letters from God. All of us, young or young at heart, have a purpose.
Now for rule #2: Aside from rule #1, there are no rules! None, zip, zero. Because just like snowflakes no two children are the same, every stage of development is different and each destiny is special.
Each child is actually a guiding light. If we open our hearts and attune to each temperament, each texture and flavour that every child so uniquely possesses, somehow, mysteriously, the way will be shown.
There are many spiritual disciplines; yoga, meditation and marital arts among them, and I’ve personally grown from each one. But for me the mother of them all, is just being a mother!
Shannon Leone is a Life Coach and author on the subject of conscious parenting and Raw Foods Diet. She is available for phone consultations and can be reached at 1-866-LEONE-11 (1-866-536-6311) or by email atshannon@foreverhealthy.net
From Wayne:
Please check her “Raising Children Raises Us” DVD on this page. When I first watched this DVD, this is what I wrote Shannon as my testimonial: “Raising Children Raises Us is a magical journey of raising your children the way we all wish we had been raised! Shannon is the mother we all dream of and her children are enchantingly charming.”
Please follow this link to check Shannon Leone’s DVD entitled “Raising Children Raises Us”