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KIDS OF CHARACTER 6/1/2009
Searching For Significance The philosopher John Stuart Mill once wrote, “There is one great rule of life. Try yourself tirelessly until you find the highest thing you are capable of doing…and then do it.” Mill’s sage counsel surely points parents, grandparents, teachers, coaches and community leaders in the direction of how to encourage and direct children. Randomly gather a hundred adults in a room and ask them what they want most for children, you will hear many ideas including the one overwhelming hope that all children might grow up to pursue an adult life full of meaning. We, humans, are meaning seekers. Our written history reveals that those who derive the greatest satisfaction from the earthly journey personally discover and then practice their unique gifts, talents and abilities. For many years I mistakenly believed that only a handful of special people were endowed with unique gifts and talents. Only Babe Ruth swings a mighty bat; only Albert Einstein has a brilliant mind; only Franklin Roosevelt embodies inspiring leadership; only Rachel Carson is gifted with the written words…only the few are special. And the rest? The rest, I erroneously thought, were the faceless masses of ordinary, undistinguished lives. I was wrong…dead wrong! I confused significance with status. In my late twenties I read the stunning words of Wilfred Peterson, who stated, “Great lives are ordinary lives intensified.” Such wisdom helped me to re-think the Truth about every individual. Over the years I have come to appreciate that we’re all encoded with a hidden splendor awaiting recognition. When we embrace this idea, we then can embark upon the great adventure of unlocking our hidden splendor, as the poet, Robert Browning, once commented. Character mentors have a tremendous opportunity to help children unlock their splendor. This does not mean that every child must grow up to write a great a novel, be a great scientist, educator or engineer. Rather, character mentors share the great privilege of helping children know that they are a one-of-kind package of thoughts, feelings, experiences and actions which, when properly trained and directed, can bring meaning to their life and tremendous good to others.
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