Thoughts & Experiences - May 30, 2008 (Breaking Molds)

We just finished our first workshop, ‘The Best Me I Can Be’ and it was just incredible. Not only because the workshop was great but because the children were truly blissful. Enthusiastic, eager and extremely excited is the best way to describe the children that took part of the workshop. Every exercise that we did with the children they accepted with wide eyes and open arms, ok not all of them but most. Once we got past a few barriers the children literally sunk into a relaxed state of mind. The words we spoke seemed to be very familiar to them and they were actually a few steps ahead of us. Imagine the smile on our faces, now imagine bigger and imagine goofier looking, you got it. As time went on, even those that were a little more reserved and slightly judgmental came around. No longer did we hear, “I know what I need to do but I don’t because I still get yelled at”, or “this stuff works but nobody wants to try it!” It was so breathtaking to hear those thoughts replaced with these, “I tried the breathing exercise yesterday and it felt better”, “I really like talking about my feelings and I really like it when my parents listen”, “I really like doing the Stop, Breath and Think exercise”. What we saw in only seven weeks was just astonishing! What did we do in seven weeks that hadn’t been done before? We ‘listened and loved’ without judgment and opinion. We destroyed previous molds that taught us that rigid and tough were decisive characteristics. We simply allowed them to be themselves, to appreciate who they truly are! We watched as they interacted on the same level actually on no level, just on the level of them ‘being who they are’. In our last class we focused on what we could to do to make the world a better place and just seeing the smiles on their faces made me realize they were already doing it. Just by being who they were, they were in fact making a difference.

I am drained from hearing people say that life is tough so it’s important to teach our kids how to adapt, “they need to be tough to live in a tough world like this!” How hard is it to realize that the reason this life is so difficult is only because we agree with how things are. Why don’t we allow our children to be who they truly want to be, not who we think they should be. It pains me to hear people telling themselves that this life is all about survival of the fittest. Let’s knock down this old guard, lets destroy these old molds let’s create the reality we want to see. I want to see a reality based on a respect for each other, peace and above all love! We have tried for so long to ignore love but I think it’s time we change, one person at a time. These children only reinforced what I hold so dear in my heart, ‘love will save the day’! Truth be told I think these children gave us more then we gave them. They gave us the opportunity to become children again, innocent and ready to embrace a whole new world. If we decide it is change we want, it is change that we will see, if we are tired of the old then why not make a change. It takes one loving thought at a time to create a reality filled with so much love!

Namaste, Peace and Love!