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KIDS OF CHARACTER 1/5/2009
Respect For Self “I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. Character mentors have one overarching mission in working with children. Yes, there are endless tasks that consume the work of raising a child into adulthood. Often, we who choose to make an investment in children, get lost in the details and forget what it is we are trying to accomplish. Thus, the mentoring mission can be reduced to thinking we must simply help kids avoid the snares of misfortune. What is the big picture work of mentoring? There are many thoughtful answers to this question. We, who care about kids, are not without viewpoints. However, I have a clear response to the question. It is shaped by thirty-three years of parenting, having experienced what I can only describe as Grace’s intervention in raising four outstanding young adults with the partnership of my wife. My answer is also defined by a professional life that has made a huge investment in getting my mind and heart around the issue of why The Few live out lives of significance while The Many remain perpetually handcuffed by the Bill-of-Faire that life offers. So, my answer? It is found behind Door 1, Door 10 or Door 110! Behind the door is one word: Self-Governance. Self-governance means just one thing: Governing one-self. It means faithfully standing at the center of your thoughts, feelings, actions. In doing so, it is realizing that mom or dad, a fantastic grandparent, a favorite coach, a special teacher, a wise counselor, a spiritual guide cannot stand at the center with you. Yes, they helped you acquire self-governance; They cared that you arrived in the awareness of self-governance. But, you…only you…stand at the center of your own self-governance. Making the leap into self governance reveals the lesson of Lincoln’s sage quote. With self-governance, you find respect. You stand on the solid ground of self governance with mental-physical-emotional-relational-spiritual wellness for a life being practiced daily with intentionality to do good with self to benefit others. Lincoln’s quote reveals the depth of his insight into the playground of self-governance. He was a shining exemplar of what it means to live in self-governance. His biography is a living essay in the struggles required to experience self-governance. He is one of America’s immortal mentors.
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