"You’ve Got To Be Taught…"
By Dr. Margaret Rogers Van Coops

 

 

No one was more thrilled than I when I went to see the musical "South Pacific" all those years ago. The music and action was a delight and most importantly an apparent truth. In those days, we listened and believed every word we heard. The song "You've got to be taught" said it all. For my readers who follow this column and are not familiar with the song, here it is:

You've got to be taught to hate and fear,
You've got to be taught from year to year,
It's got to be drummed in your dear little ear,
You've got to be carefully taught,
You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made
And people whose skin is a different shade,
You've got to be carefully taught
You’ve got to be taught before it's too late
Before you are six or seven or eight
To hate all the people your relatives hate
You’ve got to be carefully taught,
You’ve got to be carefully taught.

So, now here we are, in a new century still hating most of the things our parents taught us to hate. We look at everything that is going on around us and in someway struggle to try and make sense of all that is happening. We don’t seem to have the answers just like our parents did. Nothing is cut and dried. The problem is the world is different and we have not changed. We still judge ourselves by our childhood standards and insist that our learned way is the right way. Then we wonder why we get hurt and feel cast out. Yet still, we insist that we know everything there is to know. We justify, rationalize, excuse, validate, prove our point and continue to believe what we were taught.

It is time to adapt. It is time to find new ways to communicate with new standards and new concepts about how we should all live with one another. We have "driven, nay striven" for causes that have long ended. Now it is time to find a new cause. Begin at home with family members. Look at the world through their eyes and see their points of view. Open up your minds together to new beginnings. Start something fresh - something new that you thought you could not do. Show those ancestors that you can do something that is different and better than what you were taught.

This is a great time of change. Whether we like it or not, things will never be the same. Old habits die hard, along with old mind sets and emotional trauma, but with love and forgiveness, grief and anxiety can be released. Reach out and touch someone new and learn from them. Share what you know and enjoy the pleasure of true communication. Young mothers of today must encourage their children to follow their instincts and to develop their talents. These children of today are of a different breed. They are highly intuitive and know when you are hiding something. Whether you are six or sixty, this is the time to expand your world and embrace new opportunities that stimulate growth. Yes, when the mind is active, youthful joys emerge and then the body heals. Override your ideas that you can't do something. Elevate your awareness with the awe and wonderment of a child’s eye. Encourage those you know to do the same, and soon there will be laughter and song again.

The one thing I did learn was a good sense of family values. Times spent playing games together, singing around the piano or discussing interesting topics was typical then. Now we spend hours staring at computer screens. Take a break - have an interaction with someone. You may open up your whole world and find a new direction in which to focus your life.

For more information/help contact: Sumaris Center, 321 Farallon Drive, and LHC. (928) 453 7974.
Watch Channel 45. Friday 10 p.m. Psychic Chit Chat