Point And Propel
Have you ever shot an arrow?  If so, then you know that the arrow goes exactly where you aim it.  It may not seem like it does, but it does.  Obviously there are other elements such as the wind that may cause it to get off course, but for the most part, the arrow ends up where we aim it.  In the words of William Shakespeare, “The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars, but in ourselves if we are underlings.”  Sometimes our aim is not very good. 
Parenting is a lot like shooting arrows.  In a phrase, we parents have a critical responsibility – to point and propel.  We point our children in the right direction, then we propel them in that direction.  Yet, pointing and propelling begs the question:  Which way?  In which direction are we pointing our children?  The haphazard propelling of an arrow is hazardous.  So it is with children, but multiplied a hundred.  What do we want our children to be?  This question is not about career or college choices.  That question is:  What do we want our children to do?  That is a different question.  Point and Propel is about being, not doing.  Rather than focus on what we want them to do, we need to ask what we want them to be.  Working as a lawyer, plumber or teacher is not the answer to that question.  The question about being is about character.  It means pointing our children in the direction of integrity, courage, compassion, strength, perseverance and humility. . .if that is what you want them to be.  And it causes us to ask the question if we want them to be more than we have been?  We often discuss how we want our children to have more than we did growing up, but the greater question to ask is do we want them to be more?  Remember that what a person is always trumps what a person does.  If we can point the next generation in the right direction of being, then the doing will take care of itself.