Do Not Ask Your Children To Strive
A poem by William Martin on the beauty of an ordinary life
From William Martin's The Parent's Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for Modern Parents
Do not ask your children
to strive for extraordinary lives.
Such striving may seem admirable,
but it is the way of foolishness.
Help them instead to find the wonder
and the marvel of an ordinary life.
Show them the joy of tasting
tomatoes, apples and pears.
Show them how to cry
when pets and people die.
Show them the infinite pleasure
in the touch of a hand.
And make the ordinary come alive for them.
The extraordinary will take care of itself.
Isn't this also the key to a happy life for us all too, regardless if we have children?
Appreciating the warmth of the sun on your skin, the flood of warmth from the spoonful of ice cream, the hours passing as minutes during an intimate conversation. These are magic, make us human, and I for one don't stop to appreciate the wonder of just being alive and experiencing.