That’s what we’re all doing. . . . We’re setting examples, . . . and our conduct will have a great bearing on our youth, certainly, and our youth are our future.
—John Wooden
From his dad, Bruce Springsteen learned about shame, broken pride, and struggling with demons that you can’t quite conquer. You can hear the pain it caused Bruce in many of his songs.
As unlucky as Springsteen was to be dealt that hand, he was also incredibly lucky to have a mother who set a very different example. In his memoir, Born to Run, Bruce writes about visiting his mom at her job as a legal secretary. “I am proud, she is proud,” he writes, recalling how it felt to see her in her element, away from their house, doing her job. Bruce could see himself in her, and it called him to be better. “We are handsome, responsible members of this one-dog burg pulling our own individual weight, doing what has to be done. We have a place here, a reason to open our eyes at the break of day and breathe in a life that is steady and good.”
What are your kids learning from how you carry yourself? Are you showing them, as Bruce’s dad did, how to be angry and bitter and lost? Or, as Bruce’s mom did, are you showing them how to be brave and tough and find their niche? Is your example calling them to be better or worse?