What's Your Dream?

Sorry I haven't been posting lately! I've been getting ready to offer Music Together® classes in a new location, and it's taken up a lot of my time and concentration!  But as we take today to observe the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I'm wondering, what is your dream for your children? 

How do you want their lives to look?  What do you want them to be able to accomplish?  I'm sure many of us would say similar things. We want them to be happy, of course, but what does happy look like?  Maybe it's having the ability to choose the course of their own lives, or the freedom to express themselves.  Maybe it's being able to try new things without fear, or the drive to work hard and practice to achieve a goal or master a new skill.

We want them to have love and to be loving.  Maybe that means we have to put an extra emphasis on finding out about cultures we aren't a part of, because once you know someone, it's so much easier to love them.  Maybe we have to help them learn about altruism, by volunteering together, or sharing why and how your donate your time or funds to charity.

We want them to be successful, but success can look like many things.  Sometimes, we might look at what we think success looks like at the end, and start there, instead of starting at the beginning. When we start with an eye on the end, the pressure to immediately reach that goal can destroy the desire for the journey.

Today, my son (7) picked up my old ukulele and beginner's book and started learning to pick out the notes on the C and E strings.  I sat with him and gently guided him, answering his questions, showing him a bit, but I let him decide how much he wanted to practice, and didn't press him to do more when he was done.  It's not easy to find the balance between providing opportunity and allowing freedom of choice. But if we can find that balance, we can give our children discipline matched with opportunity for creativity, which creates the richest result.

With all the things we want for our children, maybe freedom is the place to start.  Giving our children freedom can be scary and can seem counter-intuitive. But freedom balanced with guidance is an amazing gift we can give them. 

What do you think? How are you spending today?