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Parenting – the hardest job in the world

parenting advice from a non parent. ‘here we go’ i hear you say. and to you i say, ‘hear me out’

On stumbling across a quaint little bookshop in Hay-on-Wye I discovered a remarkable thinker, Khalil Gibran.

For parents and children alike some beautiful prose to ponder on ….

Speak to us of children

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, Speak to us of Children.
And he said:

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

As a child I love this, as a parent i can only imagine how hard it must be but also how fulfilling and heartbreaking it can be. a rollercoaster no doubt. I know as something of a non conformist I caused my parents no end of worry and I lied.

For more of this wisdom on life buy the prophet by Khalil Gibran. you won’t regret it.