At the beginning each month, Emily gets a calendar with a different activity for each day. Each week, we have to pick three activities to do, then fill out a response journal. This is all she gets for homework and the activities are usually fun things(collect leaves and sort them by size and color just to share an example). Yesterday one of the activities we picked was to discuss how we would help people to live peacefully. Her answer? "Give them gold."
I laughed because she said it in such a matter-of-fact way and asked her for some other ideas. She had a few good ones(spend time with families, go to church etc) so we wrote those down and finished her assignment.
Later on though, I got to thinking. Where did she come up with the idea that giving money to people would make them happy? It sure as heck wasn't from me. If anything, I think that money may be the root of all evil. It's such a sad, sad world when a six year old thinks that money is the key to happiness and living peacefully.
Sometimes, I wish there was a way to prevent her (and Katherine) from being influenced by the warped views and influences society seems to have. I know that it probably would not be a good thing. Obviously, as she learns and experiences new things, she will form her own opinions, make her own decisions. Occasionally, I just wish that we(her immediate family) were the only ones influencing her. Because all in all, I think that the attitude, general demeanor, and ways of the world are just depressing.
Everything is just too rush rush, too technical, and too "away" from what I believe.
What do I believe? I think that money is one of the last things you need to feel truly peaceful. If you have enough to pay the bills be thankful. There are some who don't even have half of what you do. Or a quarter. Or even a sixteenth. If you don't have enough, find a way to get it. There's always a way...if you want it enough. And you don't have to be devious or do anything illegal.
I think that true happiness is found at home. With your family and friends, surrounded by people that by all rights should love, care and protect you. If they don't...find a new "family". They don't deserve you anyway.
Where do I find my happiness? In the looks, the touch, and the sounds of my family. Absolutely nothing, no amount of money, nobody could make my day more than hearing or seeing my family happy. There is no group of people I would rather spend time with. Of course, just like everyone else, I have times where I just need to get away. But, overall....my home is where my heart is...and my family is the truest, most pure form of happiness I have ever experienced.
"Cause every where I'll ever go, and everywhere I've been, nothing takes my breath away like my front porch looking in." Lonestar
