Parenting: The Importance of Understanding Dianetics (Part 3)

This is the third in a series of posts on the subject of using Dianetics as a parent.  The first and second posts focused around how I use Dianetics as a parent, with my kids.  But there’s that other part of being a parent – taking care of oneself so that parenting doesn’t drive you crazy.  🙂

ADDRESSING YOURSELF

Time after time I have seen or heard about a relatively minor situation that was made so much worse simply because the parent could not just stay calm and handle the child or became really reactive himself or herself. I’ve done it plenty of times myself. There are also situations brought about wholly by the irrationalities of the parent, being enforced or played out on the child. I think if we honestly want happy, able children, and we honestly want happier families, that we have a responsibility to better ourselves and improve our own abilities to handle life and the people in it. I have always found I do much better and am much happier if I take the responsibility for things that happen and how my life goes. By taking responsibility I don’t mean “taking the blame”. I mean simply recognizing that I cause things, good or bad, in any situation I encounter. Others do too of course, but how am I causing things and how can I create a better scene?

Well, a major way that one can do that is to handle their own reactive mind and the consequent irrationalities, fears, and unwanted emotions or behavior. I have found that as I have handled more and more of my reactive mind and gone up the Bridge, not only did I become happier and more successful, I became a much better parent. This has made my job as a mom all the more rewarding, has improved my kids’ experience, and has really been a gift.