“I think that American
leadership is vital to peace and prosperity and the advancement of democracy in
the world, and that requires having strong leaders. And I don't think there's any organization in
the world, certainly not in the United States, that better prepares young men
for leadership in this century than the Boy Scouts of America - in teaching
leadership skills, in teaching values, in teaching importance of standing up
for what's right.”
– Robert Gates
Former Secretary of Defense
In a conversation with a new friend I was asked how many
grand-children I had. Proudly I answered
"Ten. My oldest daughter and her
husband have six and my youngest daughter (We only have the two) and her
husband have three and one on the way."
My new friend got a concerned look on his face and said, "Don't you
worry about kids growing is such a violent and nasty world as this?" My response was quick and from the heart,
"Not at all," I said, "They will make it better."
I understand
how when you look at the world we live in it can be a bit discouraging. We have leaders in the highest offices lie
and cheat. We have crime everywhere and
so much cruelty and hate. However,
believe it or not, it has been worse. A
funny thing about people, we look at our current times and believe it is the
worst it has ever been; and in twenty years we see it as the "Good Old
Days".
Things
are bad, there is no getting away from that.
We need a fundamental change to our society and behavior. But how do we get that change? It is not by making more laws and rules. We already have so many laws and regulations
that no one know what they can or cannot do anymore. No, the way to change our world is to change
the people in it. One person at a
time. Sounds simple and impossible at
the same time. How do you change
people? How can we do anything really
effective to bring about change for the good?
Allow
me to give you two basic and very important ways that you can make an effective
and immediate change to the world you live in.
Change One:
Start With Yourself
You do not have the power to
change anything in life, but you do have the power to change you, and by doing
that, you change it all. "But I am
not a bad person", you may say.
"I follow the laws, and am a nice guy and give to
charity." That is all very
wonderful, but we can all be better than we are. It is a simple case of doing the right thing
- all the time - just because it is the right thing to do. That sounds easy but it takes work and courage
to pull it off.
Sometimes doing the right thing
is refusing to do the wrong thing. It is
taking a stand for what is right, even if you are the only one standing. True character in a person is an active thing
that shows in all areas of life; how we behave, how we deal with others and
what we believe. This is where the Scout
Law can bring clarity and direction to our lives. It helps us understand in 12 principles, what
it means to be a person of honesty, integrity and faithfulness.
If you start with you, you will
have successfully changed one person for the better and thus, changed us all as
a whole. If each one of us did this
there would be nothing, no matter how powerful or wicked, that could overcome us. I love the words of writer, Thomas Carlyle
who said, "Make yourself an honest man, then you may be sure that there is
one less scoundrel in the world."
Change Two:
Teach Our Children How To Be People Of Character
As a parent, grand-parent,
relative, teacher, coach, Sunday school teacher or anything that puts you in
contact with children, you have an awesome power and responsibility to shape a
life. Look at many of the problems we
have with our youth today and ask, "Where did they learn this stuff?" The answer is, from us. We pour so much trash and wrong into their
lives through movies, games, school, example and more. They did not come up with bad behavior on
their own, we taught them.
This principle of teaching works
the other way too. We can, and many do,
teach our children how to make right choices, do good deeds, study and work
hard, be polite and to think of others.
As a Cub Scout leader, grand-parent and someone who is around kids a
lot, I can tell you that there are many great and well behaved kids in this
world. I look at my Scouts and I am
hopeful for tomorrow.
Remember this, these kids you
see today, whether your own or those you are in contact with, will be - not
maybe, but WELL BE, the leaders of tomorrow. They will one day run things and if we want a
better world we best start with them.
When we invest our time and energy into children we are investing in our
future.
I get so put off by self seeking
adults who claim they do all their underhanded and unethical acts for "the
children". You want do we something
to help the children, start by teaching them honesty, integrity, hard work and
justice. How can we make the family
better? Start by showing our children
what a family should be and how people in that family should act. Want to feed a hungry child? Start by teaching them the value of hard
work, earning your way and to be self-sufficient. We have a responsibility to teach our
children to be the best they can be.
I believe that one of the best
tools we have in this country to help lead our children in the right direction
is Scouting. Do all those who were in
Scouts turn out to be model citizens?
No. But more do than do not. Scouting is not a replacement to good
parenting, it is only a tool that can help in the process. It is up to us, the family members to help
our children learn how to make good choices, do their best, love God, have good
manners, discover the unknown and change the world. In this, I am hopeful for tomorrow.
You
matter! You matter to the world and to
yourself. Remember to be your best, love
God, have good manners, achieve the unknown and change your world.
John Patrick
Hickey is an author, speaker, Life Coach and proud Scouter. To read more from
John Patrick Hickey or to get his books, training and book him to speak to your
church, business or group, visit our website at http://www.growthcenter.net or www.johnpatrickhickey.com.
© 2014 John
Patrick Hickey
No comments:
Post a Comment