In the current climate, there’s a myriad of competing voices, different viewpoints and divided agendas. As a mother to a three-year-old, the landscape as we know it has changed dramatically. Now, more than ever, I believe that the focus should be on what unites us all rather than what divides us.
Polarisation does not contribute to a balanced society. Leading with kindness should be the goal of each member of society. I’m not going to touch and get pulled into discussions regarding who is in the right or what needs to occur. The solution, to be honest, isn’t so cut and dried.
I am not in any way qualified to weigh in on all the noise.
My core responsibility, as a parent, however, is to shape my son’s worldview free of my own ingrained biases. It is my duty to raise him in a manner that would contribute to effecting positive change in the world. I am going to teach him to be kind; to will the good of the other; to consider, in making decisions, how it would affect the people around him.
I believe that the advent of technology, somehow, has trampled what it means to be human. Our ability to empathise has somewhat fallen on the wayside.
Teaching Kaizen, the golden rule, as early as now, will set him up for success. Doing others what you want others to do to you should be the rule not the exception.
This is in no way a ‘cop-out’. An oversimplification of our issues as a society. However, I believe it is high time that we go back to the basics. Treating all human beings with respect and dignity. Not judging anyone by the lens of money, fame or social status.
Losing my Dad so abruptly, that single traumatic event has exposed me to the harsh realities of life. Even within our own Filipino-Australian community, there are those who are quick to judge because that’s what people do. The comparison is never-ending.
People are programmed to want what they do not have and somehow it becomes a race to who is ‘better’. Who has a bigger house? A newer car model? New shoes, clothes? Who’s more good-looking, etc?
All these ideals are imposed by society and perpetuated from generation to generation.
Looking within, I can admit that I’ve fallen into this ‘I don’t measure up game.’
And it does take a conscious effort to rise above and re-program your thought process.
As I am deconstructing these set norms, I am learning what it means to be human all over again. In teaching my son, I am teaching myself.
I’m not saying that this would solve all the problems.
But imagine a world wherein people treated each other the way they want to be treated. A world where the colour of your skin doesn’t define you. A world where you are free to be yourself, and the only competition you have is with yourself. A race to be the best version you can be.
That is the world I want for my son. And it is my hope that in raising him to follow the golden rule, I am contributing to building a better future for all.
(For comments or feedback, email rainecabral@gmail.com)
