Monthly Archives: September 2014

The Parent’s Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for Modern Parents

Saw my friend post a pox of the following poem from the book.

Make the Ordinary Come Alive
Do not ask your children
to strive for extraordinary lives.
Such striving may seem admirable,
but it is a way of foolishness.
Help them instead to find the wonder
and the marvel of an ordinary life.
Show them the joy of tasting
tomatoes, apples, and pears.
Show them how to cry
when pets and people die.
Show them the infinite pleasure
in the touch of a hand.
And make the ordinary come alive for them.
The extraordinary will take care of itself.
By William Martin, The Parent’s Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for Modern Parents.

Off the bat it caught my attention. Why would anyone say – “Do not ask your children to strive for extraordinary lives”? But then I read the rest of it and it did make sense.  Still would like to ask girls to strive for the most extraordinary, but also remind them to pay attention to the minute details too. Because it is the collection of

– manzoor