"Once a parent, always a parent," my mother told me when I asked her not to fuss so much about what was going on in my adult life. She suffered more than I did when my husband became terminally ill, perhaps because there was little she could do at a distance. I think mother's are very much happier when they can be busy protecting their kids from dangers and disappointments, etc.

In fact, in my neighborhood, parents have invested a great deal of time and energy in making their children happy...so much so that I worry what will happen to these cherubs when they become adults thrust into the real world! Who will pay for their high speed internet access, for instance?

The latest article from the Baha'i site at BellaOnline.com is about how important negative experiences are for developing confidence and hope.

Hope Requires Adversity
Hope is not an emotion, nor is it faith. Hope is a confident, cognitive response to adversity, which grows out of surviving tough times.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art300774.asp

Do visit bahai.bellaonline.com for more articles on ways to change the world through improved parenting, education, and tools for character building, plus links to the sacred texts of the Bahá'í Faith. You don't have to rely on only my understanding, when you can go straight to the source!

Join free online discussions, view time sensitive announcements and check out interesting external links in the site forum located here -

http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=321

I hope to hear from you sometime soon, either in the forum or in response to this email message. I thrive on your feedback.

Cheryll Schuette, Baha'i Editor
http://bahai.bellaonline.com


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