Warrior Rule #12

Respect the elders who laid your past ground. Love the children who are the innovators of your future.

In Western culture, one of the biggest differences from other parts of the world, is a disconnect from our elders and children. Due to our focus on being successful, so we can survive within this capitalist structure (which by default promotes financial freedom so we aren’t caught in the survival trap) we have become accustomed to being isolated from our community and families.

One thing this pandemic has taught us all, is that human beings do not thrive in isolation – we need one another, it is in our genetic programming to connect to the field of intelligence, ourselves and extend that outward.

In our current culture, our elders are often shuffled aside, not listened to. Our financial system doesn’t have much on reserve so many are forced to live in very poor conditions. Families who must survive within this dynamic do not have the means, nor the time to provide full-time care because they must work in order to keep their own lifeboat from sinking.

Our elders are a great source of wisdom, and should be treated as such. Not disregarded because they are no longer able to actively pull the weight of our current culture. They laid the foundation, and it is up to each of us to carry forward what is useful in cultivating a better world.

Children are many times treated like little soldiers. They are trained from birth that if you do as we say, meaning you are “good” you get a reward. If you don’t do as we say, meaning you are “bad” you will be punished. This kind of programming has two effects. It creates a mentality that we must be accepted by others as good or we will not be rewarded. So we people please, to the point of our own unhappiness and destruction. On the flip side, if a child is constantly being punished, they will learn that this is how to get attention and focus and will begin doing things just to fulfill that need.

Listen to your children, respect them as the bringers of new thoughts, ideas, energy. Allow yourself to remember what it was like to have an open heart and imagination. Let them explore, encourage them to be individuals and self-navigate by setting safe boundaries that they can explore within in. As your child shows growth, you can continuously move those boundaries out further.

I can assure you, you will have a much stronger connection with them as they mature if you don’t try forcing them to be who you want them to be based on your own fears, beliefs and limitations.

As we connect more deeply to our roots, through our elders and help to nurture the new life of our children, we cultivate a healthier garden that will replace the weeds and barren landscape that pervades our current culture.

>>>>WARRIOR CHALLENGE<<<<<<

Make it a point to connect with an elder, one within your family, at work, during this pandemic options are limited for safety but find a way to connect and listen

Spend time with our child (children) in a new way. Instead of care taking, find some space to simply observe them and watch them explore. Tune in and harness that playful child-like energy so it can remind you, that this is where you began, and should reach to be as much as possible.