I spent the night with some life long friends and their children in Grahamstown. These are the kind of mates that you know will always be there for you in life no matter what happens in the interim (and visa versa). I hope that everyone has mates like this, as life without them would be joyless and foul. If you have spent any time reading this blog, you will have noticed that I have spent the majority of my time over the past weeks in deep conversations with people all over the place. It has been a time of much enlightenment for me as I have gone past the usual conversation niceties and delved into something far richer and meaningful. I think that all of these conversations have helped me to really grow as a person and for that I thank all of you that have been on the other side. I sure hope that all of you have gotten something out of these chats too.

The most fantastic thing about these mates is that they get it (and certainly my psyche at this point in time needs that). OK, so this is not the most fantastic things about these mates – there are plenty of other great features but for me right now this is important. In a world where money and power is everything it is great to talk about children and their value. I was informed by these mates that Plato (long ago philosopher) considered that a child’s character was fully formed by the age of 7. As a parent, your role switches from one of forming to one of nurturing and guiding. Compare this thought to the norm in society of spending the formative years of your children’s life actively trying to do what it takes to get ahead in our careers. Instead of actively investing in our children we are courageously chasing company ideals! Who then is forming the characters of our young children? Perhaps you are blessed to work from home or to be at home, in which case you have the advantage. What about the rest of us working the day, how do we make the time and effort to really invest in our children? I once heard somebody say that anyone who thinks that they spend quality time with their children is foolish because children need quantity! The meaning here is that ALL time is important and therefore you have to invest as much as you can. This is a scary concept and I am painfully aware that this is a near impossibility for most of us in our current lives. Had I continued on my path, I would have had very little influence in the further development of the characters of either of my children. I would have left their character forming to their teachers and friends and baby sitters. As wonderful as all of these people are, I cannot imagine that this is a job that I should be shirking! I march onward to cricket balls and chess and slow training runs and surfing and swimming and reading and chatting and lifts and debates. Viva the moms and dads who do this with hearts overflowing with love and joy!