CHILDREN ARE OUR FUTURE. AREN’T WE, TOO?

Having a chance to be so close among the children ages 11 to 13 years that were participating in the Lions International Peace Poster Contest last week and watching those kids pour their ideas and feelings into paintings on paper was really an exciting experience. Similarly, looking at how the parents of those children patiently waiting for more than 4 hours, was also an interesting scene.

Lions International Peace Poster Contest is an international contest that encourages children, ages 11 – 13, to creatively express what peace means to them. The 2011-2012 contest theme is “Children Know Peace. The contest allows students to think about peace, creatively express what it means to them and to share their own unique visions and images of peace with the world, so that we may all have greater tolerance and international understanding. By entering the contest, your child is joining hundreds of thousands of children from around the world in sharing their visions of world peace. More than 200 children from various schools were participating in the contest and 51 posters were then nominated based on both beauty and the message conveyed.

Children are in deed our future but what about us as adults? Do we also realize that it is important for us to have correct attitudes toward life and establish goals for the future? Have we set the directions and controls of our lives in the fast changing world?

We always wanted to be somebody but we should have been more specific. Have we made a difference with our life?

-       Our life is our dash - our participation in the contest of life and like any other contest, we need to prepare about how we are going to spend our dash for we never know how much time is left.

-       We need to know what maters so think long and hard, slowdown enough when and where necessary, to consider what is true and real.

-       Always try to understand how other people feel and treat each other with respect.

-       Try to be slow enough to anger, show appreciation more and wear smiles more often.

Life is not only about financial and career so if we have not set goals in all the other areas of life - family and home, physical and health, mental and education, social and cultural, spiritual and ethical -  start writing them down now and act immediately so we will have good posters of ourselves in the real contest of life.