Each person must be responsible for himself. — Galatians 6:5
This is part five of my “forgiveness” series. Avoid thoughts and activities that involve telling people who are perfectly capable of making their own choices what to do. In your own family especially, you don’t own any one of them. The poet Kahlil Gibran reminds you: “Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you…”
This is always true, and not just for your children — this quote is true for every person in your life. In fact, disregard all thoughts you may have of dominating folks in any of your relationships. Listen rather than have court, when you talk more than you listen. You definitely don’t know what that sibling, spouse or friend was sent to this earth to achieve.
To discontinue that lifelong habit, you may have of running someone business, you must pay close attention to yourself when you’re having judgmental opinions and see where self-attention takes you, you will catch yourself if you’re looking for your own faults. When you replace that attitude of running someone else’s life with one of allowing them to think for themselves, to make their own mistakes, which is how we fail our way to success.
How can someone learn life’s lessons if they avoid making mistakes? Pencils have erasers, and we all learn from the errors of our ways. If not, you are foolish. As the famous saying goes, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Listening on to God is just as important as breathing your next breath. If you are not sure that it is God that is speaking to you, ask Him to provide two or three scripture verses that will confirm His message, such as 2 Corinthians 13:1. Do not worry as it is His pleasure to confirm everything with His Word! Or Hebrews 6:17, which says: “Remember, God never, never, never does or asks you to do anything contrary to His Word.”
Furthermore, God does not and cannot lie — ever! (Titus 1:2. Hebrews 6:18)
Let’s be clear what is meant by not telling someone what to do. Many parents have tried to shape the future of their children, and in some cases it has worked. A perfect example would be the Williams sisters. Their dad began to teach them tennis when they were only young girls in elementary school, living in Compton, California. He had a dream for them that worked! But that’s not always going to be the case.
Thusly, as you teach your children, it would be great to expose them to various types of activities. Why? There is no sign written on our faces at birth that says “the world’s best baseball player” or “the world’s best ballet dancer”! No, the child won’t know, and neither will you as parents. But once you begin to expose your child or children to so many different activities, they possibly will excel in one of those areas. It would behoove you as parent to notice the talents your children have as they move through this experience called life!
My life was destined to become one with event planning. As I look back, I recognize when that talent first blossomed. It was during my wedding planning 48 years ago. Wow! At age 19, my wedding was fantastic. Every detail mattered, and this was decades ahead of the super-expensive weddings of today. Twelve years later, I found myself coordinating major events, and am still going today.
Lyndia Grant is a speaker/writer living in the D.C. area. Her radio show, “Think on These Things,” airs Fridays at 6 p.m. on 1340 AM (WYCB), a Radio One station. Visit her website, www.lyndiagrantshow.com, send comments to lyndiagrant@gmail.com or call 240-602-6295. Follow her on Twitter @LyndiaGrant and on Facebook.