Tuesday, July 31, 2012

The Unpolished Gem

As I share my thoughts I am reminded the awesome privilege of being a guardian to my two boys. It takes great responsibilities and commitment plus loads of patience. There are many qualities I admire in my youngest boy that has make me change the way I see myself. It has changed my life, which I am grateful for the change. I have the honor of being a best friend and guardian. Most fathers do not know how to admire their sons or does anyone know what a wonderful gift they are to their fathers.

My youngest boy is like an unpolished gem. He has a character that to me is genuine and authentic with an honest barometer of what I believe is good attitude. Like many of us have our own quirks and idiosyncrasies and he was my source of change to become a more patient person. It is a virtue that I cultivated and nurtured over time. Learning to respect the differences and the space that we hold in our own comfort zone is very important in our relationship.


I didn’t have such an enormous level of genuineness compared to my youngest boy. How could I when I was such an opinionated pig and it usually takes a while for me open up to new people that I meet for the first time? He has the ability to be real, authentic and honest whilst, his guardian was living in a superficial world surrounded by professionals from the advertising industry who thinks they have the license to be one.

Feeling comfortable in one's skin and being true to one's self is one of the most beautiful traits one can possess. I am glad that he has the honesty to be who he is. Most parents would be proud to claim that they have brought up their children based on their own values. As a guardian, I believe in openness and therefore I am really open with my two boys. I share with them in all honesty of my experiences in life and not necessary that they are all good or bad but it was a matter of choices I made and we often have open conversations over it. They feel very comfortable with the openness and they share their private and intimate moments too. It is through the openness from the start that allows them to share their thoughts and honesty with me. When you can be like that with someone I think it speaks volumes about the level of your relationship with each other, or how they see you as a person.

The unpolished gem when crafted becomes polished and shines. I believe the nicest qualities about the youngest boy will make him an excellent friend and employee but I doubt they will help him climb the ladder to success. But I know it will serve him emotionally well and that he will become a better man. Humility is also an extraordinary trait that makes him special and his integrity is one of the special characteristics that are unique of him.

For all the good qualities that I admire, I could never bring myself to lie or to tell him a white lie. My wish for him is to get the heck out of his comfort zone and get out of the city. See the mountains, oceans, deserts and flat places in between. Go to the off beaten tracks or to the big cities and discover more. I am very glad he followed my advice and he is still continuing his journey of discovery. The true changes began when I took my eyes off changing my child and started changing myself.


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