You Have Profound Power as a Parent

“There is only one happiness to life, to love and be loved.” –George Sand

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You have profound power as a parent. In the pages that follow, you will learn ways to give your child the best chance of lifelong happiness. An additional bonus is that your future grandchildren and great-grandchildren will benefit enormously.

You have the profound power to create a consciousness in your child, and to develop skills, which will greatly increase the probability of your child’s future success in marriage and family relationships. Marital success will result in lifelong happiness. After faith in a Higher Power, this is the greatest gift that you could ever give your child.

Success in marriage and family relationships is the true source of happiness in life.

How many times have you heard it said, that on your deathbed, no one ever wishes that they had spent more time at the office? We all wish that we had devoted more time to what really matters…our closest family relationships.

Research backs my claim. Scientists began tracking the health of 268 Harvard sophomores in 1938 during the Great Depression. The longitudinal study, the Harvard Study of Adult Development, revealed clues to leading healthy and happy lives.

Robert Waldinger, the fourth director of the Harvard Study, recorded his TED talk, titled “What Makes a Good Life? Lessons from the Longest Study on Happiness,” in 2015. There is one major finding: Good relationships keep us happier and healthier.

I am a firm believer in beginning with the end in mind, a notion made famous by the late author, educator, businessman and motivational speaker, Stephen Covey. If you apply the “begin with the end in mind” philosophy to parenting, the question must be asked, “What kind of human being do you want your child to become?” and “What really matters at the end of your child’s life?”

We train our children to succeed in school, athletics, sometimes in the arts. Some of us train our children in manners and health and wellness practices. Other than the unavoidable modeling that we do in our own relationships, few of us consciously train children for success in their most intimate relationship with their spouse or partner.

My intention is to present you with practical techniques that you can employ that will maximize your child’s chance of lifelong happiness. My aim is to create in you a consciousness about your child’s future success in marriage and family relationships, so that you can create that consciousness in your child. I encourage you to begin with the end in mind…your grown child’s truly happy, satisfying life, that is built upon conscious coupling and conscious family relationships. This training will make a profound difference. The strategies include:

  1. Create a True Sense of Worthiness
  2. Label and Speak about Feelings
  3. Teach The Five Love Languages
  4. Model Gratitude
  5. Teach the Purpose and Beauty of Sexuality
  6. Raise a Good Money Manager
  7. Create a Consciousness about Successful Mate Selection
  8. Create a Family Agreement
  9. Eliminate the Divorce Mindset
  10. Teach the Happy Marriage Formula

We will take a deep dive into each of these strategies. Stay tuned.

The Absolute Greatest Gift is Faith

galaxy-2357504_960_720The absolute greatest gift that you can give your child is faith. Faith in God, Jesus Christ, your Higher Power, Universal Intelligence, the Power that Breathes You, the Divine, the Lord, the Almighty, the Creator, Spirit, Source, Allah, Jehovah; whatever words you use for your Higher Power.

Personally, I am a Christian. I follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. I believe in the triune God: Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit.

Regardless of your religious or faith tradition, the greatest gift that you can give your child is faith in a Higher Power. It is God, Universal Intelligence, Spirit, who breathes us, and it is God who gives each of us our unique purpose in life; our God-given, God-sized dream. It is the radical Jesus who teaches us how to treat one another. It is God who is our strength and comfort in times of trouble. It is connection to Universal Intelligence that gives us the ability to create a life that we love living while we are living it.

While the gift of faith is far beyond the scope of this book, I hope that you will give enormous thought to how you model faith in your Higher Power and how you instruct your child in faith in something larger than self.

The second greatest gift that you can give your child is the consciousness of how to select a mate and the skills that make success in marriage and family relationships a high probability. For it is our intimate relationships that give us the greatest joy!

 

 

My God-Sized Dream

“The effect you have on others is the most valuable currency. –Jim Carrey

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Many people find their life’s purpose in their pain. Countless nonprofit organizations, books, songs and businesses have been created in the wake of pain and loss.

The pain that my sons and I suffered as a result of my choice of (now former) husband has given me a profound purpose. It is my fondest desire, my dream, to use the wisdom that I gleaned through pain to prosper others.

I seek to help parents to raise children who will succeed in marriage and family relationships. My purpose is to strengthen future marriages and families, and thus, bring lifelong happiness to countless people.

God placed this dream in my heart. I feel called to this purpose. Of course, it is a purpose and a dream far beyond my ability to achieve. It is a God-sized dream. “Nothing honors God more than a big dream that is way beyond our ability to accomplish. Why? Because there’s no way we can take credit for it.”[1] The publication of this blog is the first public step that I am taking toward my dream of becoming a thought leader for equipping future adults to succeed in marriage and family relationships.  At the end of the day, lifelong happiness is built upon intimate relationships.

With God all things are possible. It is my desire to honor God with my work; to be a channel for change; to make a difference in life; and to serve the world.

I have asked God to deliver His message through me. For all of the good that results from this blog, my future book and its related projects, I give the glory to God.

 

 

[1] Praying Circles Around Your Future; Batterson, Mark.