Monday, July 18, 2011

BOOMERS - WAKE UP, YOUR ALARM IS RINGING!


The Boomers are the generation who brought us our social philosophy - “Do your own Thing”.

In the space of one generation we turned our backs on the wisdom of our parents, on the authority of schools and on the relevance of the churches. Thanks to them we are now a materialistic, amoral and godless society - getting more so every day.

The essence of the philosophy is that I, an individual, am able to make better life judgments than the family, school and church which were our social foundations.

To help along this belief are both governments and businesses. Governments want our votes so they package up fancy “individual rights” (plus regulations). Businesses target individuals to sell us every possible item to make us successful.

The big problem is that the “Do your own thing” philosophy is directly opposed to the philosophy that says “It takes a tribe to raise a child”. Our addiction to individual freedom is shredding families as each person does his/her own thing.

The Boomers are quick to say we are giving our children the freedom to make their own social, moral and spiritual choices. The problem with that is they are not being given the options. The social, moral and spiritual lessons are not learned in school or from books. They come from their family and community experiences. These are the essentials children now do not have.

It is a tough, nasty and selfish world out there. Our children and grandchildren are being tossed into that world without the survival skills.

SO WHAT? It’s back to the family. The Boomers need to rediscover the family and rebuild it with all the players of all ages. That does a number of good things. It provides security for each person. It shares the wisdom and experience of those who have been there. It provides a personal identity, saving them from unhealthy identities offered by our unwell society.

Share with us your family’s methods of passing along wisdom and experience with this latest FAMILY CHALLENGE.

Monday, July 04, 2011

IS OUR FAMILY HAPPY?

Most people most of the time are not happy, that however doesn’t mean most are depressed.  It does means that there is a lot of living between happiness and depression.

When we start a day we are hopeful, maybe optimistic but also a bit concerned.  So each family member starts the day somewhere between happiness and depression.  Family happiness depends upon how each individual is feeling.  That would seem to lower the odds for family happiness today.

All this is good or bad depending on how much importance we place on happiness.  There is a good chance that happiness has been oversold as a life goal - which means there’s something greater.  There is.  There is satisfaction, joy, love, accomplishment, positive attitude, health, optimism and so on.

So what happened to happiness?  It didn’t disappear; it just found its place.  That place is as a by-product of the many good things in life.  It is the icing on the cake which comes from baking a good cake in the first place.

When we want our family happy, all this means is that it can’t be bought in a bottle or a tube or a magic formula.  Happiness is a gift that comes, not a goal that can be achieved.

Is our family happy?  There is a good chance if the family:

Shares together

                Works together

                                Plays together

                                                Helps others together

                                                                Prays together

                                                                                Grows together

Happiness is like most family benefits - is a gift which comes and goes like magic - always surprising and always wonderful.