What to Teach My Child

I am not sure if the word I choose is the best, or the right word — but I’d say the single thing I’d like to teach my son is “Discernment”.

What I mean by discernment encompasses:

Discernment of Thought.

At a young age we have grown accustomed to indoctrination and taking up others’ thoughts and integrating them into our own and not questioning any of these thoughts. It was a way to survive when young (you don’t question your mom when she says “do NOT put your finger on that pointed part of the knife!”). But at some point we start taking other people’s beliefs and thoughts into our own belief systems and thoughts. Sometimes we don’t even question where our own beliefs came from and whether these hold valid/true for ourselves.

[Note: I've written a very long letter to my son for when he's older, where I discuss the above concept, and I talked about how thoughts from others may show up like a stray kitten wanting you to take it in.]

Discernment of Value.

This is a tough one but value can mean tangible value (money, things) and intangible value (ideals, ideas, insight, relationships). To me discernment of value means knowing what weight you want to place on the acquisition and exercise of both tangible and intangible. Some people will work 80 hours a week for money and claim they’re doing it for their families, but they sacrifice their family relationships to earn money for their families.

There is an equation of value that isn’t quite balanced, but that is my personal opinion, and I’d make that known to my little boy (that this is my thought process, my value system, and the logic behind it, and he is free to discern the validity of these).

These are two of the major themes of discernment that I think are critical for me to help my son understand and examine as he grows.