Good
parents give their children roots and wings.
Roots to know where home is, wings to fly
away and exercise what they have learned.
Let us not educate our children to be rich.
Let us educate them to be happy, so when
they grow up they will know the value of
things, not the price. Let us give wings but
let us encourage them to do things
themselves so that they could learn how to
fly on their own.
Life
demands learning and struggling. Those who
have everything given to them become lazy,
selfish, and insensitive to the real values
of life. The very striving and hard work
that we so constantly try to avoid is the
major building block in the person we are
today.
The retired
teacher’s plants were simple but looked
good. The insurance agent’s plants were much
fuller and greener. One day, during the
night, there was a heavy rain and a wind due
to a minor storm. Next morning, both of the
neighbors came out to inspect the damage to
their garden. The neighbor who was an
insurance agent saw that his plants came off
from the roots and were totally
destroyed.
But, the retired teacher’s plants were not
damaged at all and were standing firm.
The insurance
agent neighbor was surprised to see it, he
went to the retired teacher and asked, “We
both grew the same plants together, I
actually looked after my plants better than
you did for yours, and even gave them more
water. Still, my plants came off from the
roots, while yours didn’t. How is that
possible?”
The retired
teacher smiled and said, “You gave your
plants more attention and water, but they
didn’t need to work themselves for it.
You made it easy for
them.
While I gave them
just an adequate amount of water and let
their roots search for more.
And, because of
that, their roots went deeper and that made
their position stronger.
That is why my
plants survived”.
Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable. Every step toward our goal requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals. Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle. This story is about parenting where children are like plants. If everything is given to them, they will not understand the hard work it takes to earn those things. They will not learn to work themselves and respect it. Sometimes it’s best to guide them instead of giving them; teaching them how to walk, but let them follow their path.