One of my former students (now a mother) shared this quote
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. Make the
ordinary come alive for them. The extraordinary will take care of itself.” I
had read it before, a lifetime ago when I was the mother of teenagers. I’d like
to think I taught this principle by instinct when my children were young. I believe
I’m teaching it to my grandchildren. Or maybe they’re teaching me.
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