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NOTE: This article was originally written during the U. S. Presidential Campaign. However, since the election, this problem has escalated, so this article still applies.
So, are you having a hard time keeping your cool around your children these days? Are you finding too many awkward situations when the politicians act more like name calling children rather than mature adults? Do you find yourself being embarrassed about the language, crudeness and vulgarity from these so-called-leaders? Is it feeling awkward trying to explain to your children that "Well, people just get upset and act like that when they talk about politics!" or "Even though you are watching adults who are not setting a good example, you still need to do and say the right things!" I confess, I woke up this morning feeling pretty blue, nearly to the point of tears. Actually I did start crying as I said my morning prayer. I often cry out of gratitude, but this time, I was downright discouraged about the apparent state of our country's future. Sounds pretty pessimistic I admit, however that is exactly how I was feeling, very discouraged. I remember when I was growing up there was a hard and fast rule that nearly everyone lived by and I heard this again just recently. "I never discuss religion or politics!" So, I figured since this is meant to be a controversial article, with the purpose of learning to agree to disagree agreeably (did you get that?) then this might be the perfect topic. How do we watch the debates, the endless news with ugliness, downright lies, rudeness, crudeness, swearing, vulgarity and endless negativity? How can we help our children understand that it really is possible to disagree and still be considerate of other's viewpoints, and even completely opposite viewpoints? Do we as their parents set the example and live by those same rules? I am proud to say that I am a lover of the Constitution. The founding fathers have stated that they, without a doubt, felt the Almighty’s hand in the construction of the Constitution. I believe this document is what makes this country great. Our belief in God is what makes this country great. The freedoms we enjoy are what make this country great! Having said that, I had to have a chat with myself in the shower that day and I knew that this all comes down to choices and consequences, our own personal choices. We will never be able to have control over what others do, nor should we. We can, however, still make choices for our own lives even if things are not going the way we want them to in our country. Sadly, we are very close to losing our freedoms due to big government. Any more, big government is everywhere we turn. We are losing our freedom to choose for ourselves. Another sad part of this situation is how many of the people in our country are okay with that result. Why are we giving up our freedoms and allowing big government to take over? I believe it is because too many of our families are broken. Too many families do not have dads in their home. Too many people feel that their only answer is to count on the government to be their daddy. Unfortunately, big daddy government is controlling and intrusive, ultimately limiting our own personal choices. I don’t really have any warm, fuzzy feelings about this daddy, nor do I feel that he has our best interests at heart. A good daddy wants his children to do things for themselves, to be self-sufficient so they will be strong and make good choices. A good daddy knows that we are happier when we are allowed to make our own choices and that we need to feel the consequences of them, whether positive or negative. When we are allowed to feel the pain of the poor consequences, we will likely make better choices the next time. Then we truly can learn and grow! That is a loving daddy! Whew, that’s better, I feel better! I still have control over my action, thoughts and feelings! Here are some questions for you to think about? * With all of the questionable behavior occurring in the political arena, do you take the opportunity to teach your children how not to behave? * What are you doing in your family to help your children learn the importance of personal responsibility? * Are you allowing your children to feel the consequences of their poor decisions. * Are you also noting and expressing appreciation to your family members when they make good choices? * Are you pointing out the good consequences that occur due to the good choices they make? * So, what do you think? Please share some of your thoughts so we can all have an opportunity to learn from each other. So, this could be a pretty controversial article since I am daring to talk about politics! However, I am confident we can as civilians be civil!
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