“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” ~Native American Proverb

In an otherwise horrible movie comes, “A [person's] legacy is measured by the gifts he leaves his children.”

As parenthood approaches these both strike cords with me. I think the greatest gift I can give me child will be demonstrating through my actions healthy, helpful, happy living. Where I fail at this, I can gently share that I know that I fall short, how I feel I fall short, and what I think would be a better way.

That is not to be confused with “I just don’t want you to make the same mistakes as me.” Although we borrow from our children the opportunity for a better us, our children making mistakes is essential to a life well lived. It is their lens (values) that they see the mistakes through that we can help shape and the lessons we learned from our our mistakes that we can share.

All of that won’t be very useful, if I’m not listening to our children.

I feel ill prepared and ill equipped, but I have an amazing partner in Julia, and wonderful family and tribe. I’m up for the journey!