I was going through my phone and deleting old photos. I have, oops, I had nearly a thousand pictures in one folder. My culling criteria was simple, delete all that wasnt friends and family. There are of course more than five hundred of Hunter. Looking through them was like watching him grow into the imaginative, energetic, and intelligent little boy that he is today. I am equal parts sad and proud of the little guy that he is growing to be. My friend Jason once said “We cant make them be a certain way. We can only teach them to be good people and make the best possible decisions.” I agree. I grew into who I am today because of the legacy that my father passed unto me. Sure as I grew into a shitty teenager, I knew everything, rebelled and was sick of hearing “it”. Today Im am glad he stuck to his guns. Because now I live by all that he has shared with me through all of these years. I am his legacy. Hunter will be mine. I dont want any of this to sound pretentious or like I am some great parenting guru. I am just some dude. I will be the best mentor that I can with what resources that I have. Thats my plan anyway. I will stick to my guns. I will think outside of the box as a parent. I will nurture his intelligence and keen observation skills all the while reinforcing the need and developing a drive to be a “good” person. I may not be able to leave him wealth or material things, but I do fully intend to arm him to the teeth with good judgement and basic skills to be beneficial to the people within his circle of influence. There are enough sheep, watchdogs, and wolves. My goal is to raise my little Leo as a Lion. Leadership is not inherited or trained. It is there or not there. If it is in there like our little seeds we planted I hope to see it sprout and bloom. In this world of sheep, watchdogs, and wolves what we need are Shepherds to guide them to safe pasture. But the earthbound shepherds have apparently all gone and its just the animals now. Without guidance the sheep will grow hungry and desperate and like some vile lycanthropy the lack of leadership they will become wolves. Watchdogs will snarl and bark possibly to the point where they are no longer discernible from the wolves. They world is falling into a cacophony of yelps, baying challenges, and long midnight howls. All dogs, all barking at each other. But a lions roar, now there is a sound. That distinct guttural braying. The sound, a call from the beginning of time. It will stir the souls into action. My legacy is to raise a lion. “If you want to rebel, rebel from inside the system. Thats much more powerful than rebelling outside the system.” ― Marie Lu “Power isn’t control at all — power is strength, and giving that strength to others. A leader isn’t someone who forces others to make him stronger; a leader is someone willing to give his strength to others that they may have the strength to stand on their own.” ― Beth Revis
Posted on: Wed, 20 Aug 2014 05:01:39 +0000