MYTH #7: “I will be the same as my parents.” | By Kori Peterson

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           Even where freedom may be limited, one is always free to choose the kind of parent they want to be. Choose to be a good one! Thankfully my mother was a woman who made every sacrifice she could to take care of my sister and me. On the other hand my dad was absent, only around at his own convenience, and in the end a narcissist willing to throw aside his children in exchange for his own impulses. Sadly most people do approach parenthood with what they may have caught from their own parents in a kind of 'throw out the bad - keep the good - make up the rest' attitude. We do not have to be in bondage to this way of thinking nor are we destined to perpetuate the mistakes of our own parents. Break the mold! It's been said that “we are not a product of our circumstances; we are a product of our decisions” (Stephen Covey) and “it doesn't matter what happens to you; it matters what you do with what happens to you.” (Regina Brett) We have so much say in the kind of people we want to be, and in the kind of parents we want to be. In a pro-choice world, one of the choices we ought to be making is to discover and live according to truth and love and joy and life, and to be the kind of parent who imparts these virtues to our children. Parenthood is saturated with possibilities. More than in almost any other realm, parenting allows us to be wholly intentional and purposeful. Reject the negatives of your own upbringing, and embrace the freedom to be the kind of life-giving parent you can be!

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