Jerry Banfield

The number one thing I have learned as a parent in the first year and a half is that I teach by example as an equal. This means that I am not better than her because I am more grown up. In fact, she knows things I have forgotten. As a year and a half year old child, my daughter is very much a like a zen master or enlightened spiritual present each moment completely focusing on what is happening. How many people are sitting in workshops today hoping to remember this? As she grows up, she watches and learns from me. What I say is nearly irrelevant if it is different from what I do. When she sees me get mad, she learns anger. In getting upset because things do not go my way, my daughter learns the same. If I tell her to act differently than I behave, the true lesson I teach is hypocrisy where it is okay to say one thing and do something that is the opposite. Thank you for reading about day 154 of Happier People podcast! My exercise is to be aware of what I am really teaching my daughter, to learn from