“Then it came to me that reform should begin at home; and since that day I have not had time to remake the world.” (Durant, as cited in Watson, 1951, p. 245)
Durant discovered this truth when searching for the answer to the question: what is happiness? In observing another family he was able to come to the realization that his greatest blessing was the family unit that had been given to him, and then made the intentional change to invest in his daughter rather than allow the other affairs of this world take precedent over time spent with his loved ones. Too often I find that I fall into the trap of not making time with my family a priority, and as Durant discovered, my happiness is adversely affected when I lose sight of this. I have been created for relationship, and when there is depth and intimacy in my family relationships, I am truly happy.
Yet the reason I was drawn to the quote above is because I am not certain that I entirely agree with it. I do agree that reform should begin at home – I owe that to my family and to myself. I have been granted the privilege of being the steward of my children, and I have an obligation and responsibility to steward them to the best of my ability. But I would argue that when reform begins in my home, that is when I truly have the time to remake the world.
I really have a very limited impact to remake the world on my own, but by investing in the people around me, and in particular my daughters, my reach extends far beyond my own ability. My daughters all have characteristics and traits that have identified them as leaders. They have been recognized and selected for leadership roles by teachers, peers, coaches and others. As their mother I have one of the largest roles to play in their lives when it comes to teaching them and modelling what effective leadership should look like. And as I make the time to grow them into effective leaders, that is when I choose to make the time to remake the world. I will do my own part, and they will do their part; if I have mentored them correctly their achievements will be greater than my own. As I teach them to invest in others, to serve others, to put others above themselves and purpose themselves for causes greater than themselves the possibility of remaking the world within our sphere of influence grows exponentially. And picturing that legacy adds one more drop of happiness into the joy that I already experience by being in close relationship with them.
As I finish with my personal thoughts, my heart is saddened because I know that there are many who are not as sheltered or privileged as I am, and many will not find their happiness where I have found mine. And yet in spite of broken family relationships I know many who found happiness elsewhere. I look forward to learning from the varying perspectives and experiences of others, and expect I will be challenged to broaden my thinking as a result of your responses.
Reference
Watson, L.E. (1951). Light from many lamps. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, Inc.