I was coaching the my son's First Lego League with a theme of "Senior Solutions". Our team did some research and came up with loneliness being one of the most common issues with seniors today.
It got me thinking about our society in general. We are now extremely nuclear families. Having multiple generations live in the same is close to non existent. Its parents and their kids and if the kids are not out on their own at 18, we consider ourselves failed parents. Depressing I think!
To me it makes more sense that the kids stay with the parents till they get married or have good jobs. They have plenty of time to struggle in their lives. Living in a family where the kids are answerable, teaches them tolerance so when they have to live with their spouses, they are trained in the give and take. As the kids grow older, they know they no longer "have" to be with their parents but their being there teaches them to respect authority and compromise when they don't want to. They learn to work out issues instead of walking away. The stress in the family when the strain for independence starts, shows each member that we all need to work together to keep the family together. I honestly beleive that this helps build relationships and trains people to live with things that can't be changed. I LOVE the serenity prayer and beleive it should be part of everyone's life -
Oh God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can
And the wisdom to know the difference.
If we invest our most valuable possession - time, in the people we love, I don't see why there couldn't be more happiness in the world. After all, who wouldn't like to have someone they know they could call when they were down ? I love that and I hope and pray more people will know that feeling.
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