You may have pondered what comes after ‘death’ of the physical body. Perhaps you’ve made a ‘decision’ about that which satisfies for today. At funerals we often hear those meant-to-be-soothing words, “He/she is gone to a better place”, or some such sentiment. Yet I have to confess, during the five years I worked in a newborn nursery I never once heard anyone say, “I wonder where he/she/they were before they arrived?”
What is “downstream” parenting, anyway? It’s a bit like following the path of least resistance… while learning from that resistance. It’s heading in the direction of what you desire. And the biggest challenge to it all is unlearning all of the things we’ve learned… hopefully BEFORE we pass down those faulty lessons to our children.
If you’re like most people you’ve lived some version of this scenario described in The Astonishing Power of Emotions by Esther and Jerry Hicks (The Teachings of Abraham):
I am constantly amazed at the ease with which young children choose a new direction of thought.
Several days ago I was with a small group of girlfriends when one of them received a frantic call from her grown daughter, “DAD’S UNDER THE CAR… I’VE CALLED 911… IT’S ALL MY FAULT! WE WERE ARGUING… COME QUICKLY!”
We flew into the car and while we were on the way ( a 15 min. drive that we did in about 7 min.) we received word that my girlfriends ex-husband was dead. Compression suffocation – from the car he was working under falling on him when the jack failed.
Nature dictates that the human child be dependent on a caregiver for a longer time than any other species.
What we know is that there is a biological plan for the growth of intelligence. Our mind-brain is designed for astonishing capacities, yet we know we are using only a very limited amount of that capacity.
Is it possible that it’s development requires an infant/child build knowledge of the world as it actually is by being set free to naturally discover and respond to the world without concerns for the usefulness or ‘value’ of her discovery?
Yes… inspiration trumps motivation every time!
It’s like the difference between encouragement and pushing. Encouragement opens you up to feeling confident, pushing feels out of control. Inspiration comes from feeling a pull forward from the heart… motivation is more like being pushed from behind.