Friday, July 29, 2011

99) Teach children lessons - setting norms

"We don't see things as they are; we see them as we are." Anais Nin.

A man passes a watch maker's shop everyday and stops to correct his watch. The watch maker sees this and inquires why the man had to correct his watch daily. He replies that he works in the adjoining factory and has to make sure that he rings the factory bell exactly at 4PM at closing time. Concealing a blush, the watch maker confides that his clock does not work well and that he corrects his clock everyday when the factory bell rings.

The story may amuse us, but strangely that is what happens to many of us. We keep adjusting our value system to the norms others have only to discover that their norms are suspect. We try to ape others to be befuddled when we find that we are following the wrong standards. Sometimes we have the courage to change and reset our value system. At other times we just carry on. The problem strikes us when our children act likewise. They switch from time to time to adopt priorities of those they fancy. They do not stop to search their minds. They do not see things as they are but as they are - blind followers of others. We owe it to them, not only to have the right standards for our lives, but also help set their own clocks.

1 comment:

  1. Sorry to inform you but Shawn Jessep is not a doctor and never received a PhD nor an MD. This story is likely fabricated as are most of his stories. Jessep is a pathological liar who is a master of manipulating people into feeling sorry for him and giving him money. He makes up heroic stories about past events that never happened.

    Unfortunately, he preys on gullible people of good will who want to believe people are decent and honest. You, like many people, have been duped by his unbelievable stories. He even pretends to be a veteran but his lies have been revealed here:
    http://www.anzmi.net/jessep/jessep.html

    This con artist should not be held up as a paragon of human behavior. He is a truly misguided and malicious soul.

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