A rule of thumb in childrearing is ‘Withholding’. A kid will throw a tantrum if they’re not instantaneously given what they want. Parents usually “enthrone” their kids by resigning to what they want. That’d be downright stupid and naïve. You’re not to commiserate with them, nor grant them what they wish at their first show of disapproval. Teach them patience by ‘withholding’ from their tiny fists what they’re aching to get. Life has rules; you don’t get what you desire by pouting. You persevere, do your homework and then bounties will pile up at your doorstep…And sure enough, when they do, you’ll be ever so grateful and you’ll both value and enjoy them a great deal.
Budding kids reside within each and every one of us. Their shrewdness and neediness is no where less than that of the chronologically younger. You assuage your “Inner kid’s” thirst and hallelujah! You’ve just become enslaved to its senseless temperament and moot discrepancies.
There’s somehow an unsightly magic in standing up against your desires. When you feel a burning desire to commit wrongdoing and you right away skedaddle to the OPPOSITE direction, a little something blooms within… This thing gives you a considerable sum of control over your future whims. It tames them. It gives you mastery. It gives you the upper hand.
So I’m reminding myself, constantly, that whenever I don’t acquiesce to every little whim, one day I’ll be serenaded by what I long for…and all the perseverance I've put in shall be worthwhile.
“(7) By the Soul, and the proportion and order given to it;
(8) And its enlightenment as to its wrong and its right
(9) Truly he succeeds that purifies it,
(10) And he fails that corrupts it!”
(8) And its enlightenment as to its wrong and its right
(9) Truly he succeeds that purifies it,
(10) And he fails that corrupts it!”
-Ash-Shams
