I read the coolest article in BYU Studies today about a man who was reminiscing over his past and mostly his childhood and youth.  Very touching and thought provoking.

BUT I LEARNED SOMETHING THAT I WOULD LIKE TO PASS ON TO THE REST OF YOU!!  It was not directly in the article but the contents of the article caused me to consider what I will say next.

Out of the 124 posts I have written for my blog SPARKY'S LEARNING KORNER  I have spoken a few times about my own childhood and youth. For me to write about such things is a complex matter since I do not want to live in the past but, at the same time, I continually try to learn from my past.  I also have tried to share my own lessons of the past with my ten children.  That is also a complex issue since my past is mostly "not fun" (a term we use so commonly today to describe the "good stuff in life...the good stuff is "fun")...but my past holds within it some VERY VALUABLE LESSONS for all of us in this family.

Well, the lesson that hit me today about my generation and the generations that follow me is this:  Even though we should not live in the past or let the past hold us hostage....we should SELECTIVELY share those lessons with THE NEXT GENERATION.  We are trying to improve each generation, right?  How can I help improve my children's generation if I do not "let them in on" the lessons learned during MY generation?

Continuing that theme--likewise MY children should share the lessons of THEIR generation (which include what they learned from me) with the next generation (that of their children, or my grandchildren)...and so on.  The LEARNING OF EACH GENERATION SHOULD BE CONSCIOUSLY AND INTENTIONALLY SHARED WITH SUCCEEDING GENERATIONS.

How do we do that?  I am not sure.  Journals?  Blogs?  Interviews?  My wife writes down the "top ten lessons" she learned during her childhood and youth and sends them to our ten children?  And they can then pass those on to their children?  Plus, our children can then do the same---write down the top ten lessons they learned during their childhood and youth--and give those to their children.  They could provide their children with a copy of what I wrote and what Sherri wrote in answering that top ten lessons question.

Well, I think you get the idea.  SOMEHOW WE SHOULD FIND A WAY TO SHARE THE LESSONS OF EACH GENERATION WITH THE NEXT GENERATION...AND POSSIBLY SUCCEEDING GENERATIONS.

I have an original handwritten letter written by my great grandmother, Jane MacLean in 1864!  She wrote it to her family several months after her marriage to my great grandfather James MacArthur in Lobo Township, London, Ontario, Canada. It is fascinating to read her description of marriage, her new husband...life in very rural Lobo Township etc.  By reading the words of my great grandmother...she TAUGHT ME  well over a hundred years after she penned the actual words of the letter.

I have kept a personal journal since 1976. I wish I had done it longer. I have over 2000 pages of handwritten journal entries that may be of interest and value to my posterity some day.
But I still think that if I were to take time to write about the TOP TEN LESSONS I LEARNED DURING MY CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH....and sent that to my adult children...that maybe I would forge a LINK between my generation and theirs based in passing on KEY LESSONS that will help IMPROVE the generations that succeed me.

Well, just a thought. Have a nice day. Jim