22. Knowledge, Wisdom and Character Building

I met parents and almost everyone of them has the desire to see their children doing well academically. This is human nature and this is perfectly rational. However only a few parents openly expressed strong desire to see their children developing good characters.

Our thoughts determine our actions. Be mindful about what is in your mind.

If academic achievement always dominating our mind then our action will also gear towards that direction. What we focus on it and it will expand.

Knowledge is easy to acquire especially where we are in this internet age.

Acquire wisdom is difficult; wisdom gain through accumulation of experience, it is not about knowledge.

Wisdom comes from our self reflection, internalisation, logical analysis, intention setting, compassion, application of knowledege and action.

Character building is even harder. Building character for young children should be the priority instead of seeking knowledge excellent.

Good character building starts from young. Would you consider spending more time with your children in areas such as having outdoor activity regularly, joining team work activity and encourage them joining uniform group, mountain climbing, letting them ride on public transport to schools, these are a few examples that they can embark on.

Parents have to set good examples when their children are young. Be with them when they are young and receptive to character education. Love does not equate to material gain and compensation. It is rather too late to let the school teaches character building for your children. In this aspect it is wiser not overly dependent on the school system.

If given a choice, parents would want their children to be good in both character and knowledge. Again you need to set your priority. What is in your mind it expands.

Some of the Confucian teachings are outdated but this one remains valid:

“A man who possesses moral worth will always have something to say worth listening to; but a man who has something to say is not necessarily a man of moral worth. A moral character always has courage; but a man of courage is not necessarily a moral character.” – Confucius.

Build our children characters,sow the seed reap the harvest later.

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