Self Help

As parents, one of your main objectives to raising healthy minded and goal oriented children is to give them a sense of purpose in life. Many people may disagree about whether or not purpose in life can be found through employment or leisure activities, but few will debate the necessity for living life with a feeling of purpose and meaning.

This sense of purpose and meaning should be established very early in your child’s life. And must be constantly reinforced through adulthood. It is a very important part of the work that you can do for your child to be raised as a self confident and peacefully driven adult.

Ask any adult about how they feel about “childhood” and they will invariably tell you that childhood is regarded as a carefree, idyllic period. But the truth is that many children are unable to find inner ways to handle life’s difficulties. They are not truly living a childhood of “carefreeness” as most adults think they are. Just consider the childhood autism, schizophrenia, drug abuse, suicides, violence, and you will see that many of these children require specific and skillful interventions to acquire a meaningful life.

To help offer you some basic assistance, I have outlined a few suggestions for assisting your children, regardless of their current ages or positions in life. These tips not only can help in assist your children, but they can also help them adopt to higher values, to meet their higher and highest needs, and to feel meaning and purposeful.

1. To help your young children to meet their own basic needs of survival, be sure to allow them as much freedom to make decisions for themselves as possible. Of course your best judgment should be used so as not to jeopardize their safety. Let them make choices. Show them that their are reactions to their actions. Let them “fall” so to speak, in order to learn how their choices can affect their outcomes.

2. Be sure to place as much emphasis on the quality of life for your children, instead of teaching them to grab as much ’stuff’ as they can by accumulating as much as possible. Encourage them to appreciate everything that comes along in life. Show that that the magic is in nature and the world around them. Point out the beauty of life and the view of a sunset. Marvel together at the way a tree or a flower can grow from a seed.

3. For even the most regular and simple events of your child’s day, use praise over and over again. Remind your children everyday of their lives that what they are doing right is important and meaningful. Let them know that they already have purpose. Praise them until you cannot praise them enough.