This is my daughter Emma when she was 4. Today, she’s 11. She
has good days and bad days. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed being a mom. If you
have kids, I’m sure you can relate! Our children are growing up in a complex
world, to say the least.
I often ask myself how I can help Emma feel secure in a
world filled with daily unpredictable atrocities? How can I help her to feel
grounded in a materialistic world that rewards spending time on electronic
devices and in shopping malls more than playing outside? How can I help her to
feel joyful and relaxed in a world that rewards productivity and performance at
any cost? How can I help Emma to be loving and compassionate towards others in
a world that encourages competition, power struggles and the survival of the
fittest? How can I help her to feel energized and balanced in a world that has
lost touch with what real food is and encourages her to take a pill to fix the symptoms of disease! How can I best
prepare her for the future in a world that preaches the benefits of knowledge
and education, but fails to ask these fundamental questions: Who am I? Why am I
here? What’s my purpose? Was I meant to suffer or can I be happy? What is true
happiness? How can I find lasting joy and peace in this complex world?
As parents, we go out of our way to sign up our kids for
soccer, swimming, dancing, drama, music...which are all great, but let’s face
it, something fundamental is still missing in their lives. Are we teaching them
how to fit into the system so they can “win” at this game of life, or are we
helping them to figure out how to be truly happy? Do we know how to be truly
happy ourselves? What kind of example are we setting for them?
What I want for Emma is for her to be able to think outside
the box. I want her to see beyond the illusions of this fearful world she was
born into. I hope to raise her awareness so that she’s able to stop creating
more suffering for herself and others and instead, she can concentrate on
healing our planet. I want to teach her how to tap into her inner-wisdom.
Ultimately, I want her to remember that her happiness comes from within. She’s
not a victim of her circumstances. Neither are you, nor your children. But to
change our perception of the world, we first have to change the perception of
who we think we are. It’s time to awaken!
I wrote Conscious Kids (online mindfulness lessons) for
Emma. It won’t change the world, but it’s a small step in the right direction. If
you’d like to receive the weekly mindfulness lessons, you can sign up here
(deadline is Feb 1st, 2016): http://www.lisevilleneuve.com/#!consciouskids/ckgl
Blessings,
Lise
