I don’t mind slacking. It is good to relax and just take a deep breath and soak up life. What I don’t like is wasting time, having my time (or my son’s time) wasted, or wasting someone else’s time. I’ve been to countless scout meetings over the years where I just scratch my head and wonder what the heck is going on. We have to make the most out of that slice of life we dedicate to scouting.
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I think we all sense the increased level of competitiveness in the world. It affects everyone, from soccer moms & global industrialists to surfer dudes and Buddhist monks. Too many people competing for too few resources. The divide between the haves and have nots continues to cause ever increasing conflict throughout the world. Life has just become much more complicated than when we were kids. I know it is a matter of life choices in many regards, but again, I think everyone in the world is impacted by advances in computers, medicine, communications, and on the negative side, the spread of diseases, harmful ideologies, and evil beings. Unquestionably, Baden Powell would have wanted scouting to prepare our youth for this changing world. It wasn’t just camping he was talking about when he created the scout motto.
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We want our kids to enjoy life and their childhood and step off on their own with a feeling of hope and optimism. Parenting skills can provide them with the love and wisdom they need as a foundation, we shouldn’t tamper with that. It’s the other areas, like school, lessons/practices, and scouting that we need to supercharge to help our kids face the challenges of this new world. Channeling our collective energy to provide a quality experience for them is simply our duty.
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Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must move faster than the lion or it will not survive. Every morning a lion wakes up and it knows it must move faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn’t matter if you are the lion or the gazelle, when the sun comes up, you better be moving.
