Be The Example We Would Like To Have

I have taken up listening to Podcasts during my daily commute. While listening to one of them this week, a statement was made that our actions we take now will have an affect on generations to come. The way we live doesn't go un-noticed. Whether we like it or not, the way we live is how our kids are going to live. Our kids will also pass down our lifestyle and habits to their kids and so on through the generations.

Almost every area of our lives comes into play. When we read to our kids when they are young, they will grow up to be readers. Coming from and educated family, it was just a given that I would be educated. There was no discussion as to if I or my siblings wanted to go to college, that was just a given. We were encouraged to study anything that interested us. Many people grow up without that much direction. We all have the opportunity, but if our parents don't start us down a path, we just flounder. In the opposite direction, if our parents steer us through our entire life and down all our paths, we tend to resent them and break free and flee in a opposite direction when given the opportunity.

Back to the choices we make and how the affect generations to come, if we choose to live a healthy lifestyle, our kids will live a healthy lifestyle by example. They will eat the foods that we eat, exercise or do the activities we do. If we make our lives fun, they will be fun people and live life to the fullest. But also think of this, if we accept living in a house that is a mess, our kids will accept this as okay for them too.

I ask myself not if I am going to make an impression on a life, but what kind of impression am I going to leave on the lives around me? The lesson here is to be the example of what we would like to become. If we don't like they way we turned out, and we want to improve our lives and the lives of the generations to follow, ask "What could or should have my parents done differently?" When you answer that question, go out and learn what needs to done to make the changes that you want to see.

Our entire lives are not predetermined, but they have been influence dramatically by our Ancestors. If we don't like what we have become, we need to clean our slate, set new goals and start over. It is never too late. Some aspects will be easier then the next and some will seem impossible, yet if the goal is really desired, the outcome will be achieved. Some people say that they were not given the same opportunities as others and are not able to achieve what they want. The truth of the matter is that they were not shown that they have the opportunity to be anything they want to be.

Dance like no one is watching, live like everyone is watching.