The Greatest Love of All

Yesterday I attended a very powerful conference on the extent to which we are failing our nation's youth with our current "college for all" system. According to these experts, only 1/3 of all jobs over the next decade will require a BA/BS or better. One third! Yet we behave as if all of them do, setting many kids up for failure when they put their money toward a Bachelor's only to drop out and find themselves without training for a career. It's high time we adults adapt the system in a way that serves kids instead of ourselves.

One of the speakers talked about the Masai tribe, which revere their young, greeting each other by saying: "Kasserian Ingera" or "How are the Children?" This tribe has an understanding that the state of the children foretells the state of the whole society.

This brought to mind an old fave of mine, one of a number of songs that my friend and I sang on trains across Europe in the early 90s -- the cheesier the better -- and this one was right up there. It may be cheesy, but it has a powerful message:

I believe the children are our are future

Teach them well and let them lead the way

Show them all the beauty they possess inside

Give them a sense of pride to make it easier

Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be...

Trust me, it's a good one for really belting it out, just as Whitney does. I remember feeling empowered by this song, too, though I think I fell a little short (in my 20s) of enjoying the greatest love of all:

I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone's shadows

If I fail, if I succeed

At least I live as I believe

No matter what they take from me

They can't take away my dignity

Because the greatest love of all

Is happening to me

I found the greatest love of all

Inside of me

The greatest love of all

Is easy to achieve

Learning to love yourself

It is the greatest love of all

I agree with her that it is the greatest love of all because without it, you can't truly love another, but I gotta beg to differ on it being easy to achieve. It sure has taken me a while and it's not been for lack of trying! I try every day to mirror the beauty my children possess inside, hoping that by doing so I may shorten their struggle to find self-love...