Advice to my kids...or something I need to remind myself all too often

This post isn't meant to be funny or cute, but it's advice to my kids, in case this blog outlives me.

Being of the Paul McVickar gene, there's a good chance the older they get, the harder time they'll have biting their tongues when confronted with some sort of injustice, whether it's on the grand political stage, or just in their personal lives, even in some personal interaction they've had with someone, particularly if they feel they've been offended or wronged in some way.

I have two suggestions for how to respond to someone when you feel a nasty response coming from within, and these aren't interchangeable, but they are easily identifiable as to when it's appropriate to utilize them.

The first is for when someone is acting in a way you don't understand or agree with, and you think they know it. As my dad used to say to us kids..."Do what you feel is right." It simply puts the onus on someone to draw from their basic goodness and communicates so aptly that you trust them to make wise and loving decisions without your having to talk them into it.

The second is most appropriate when someone writes or says something where you have great opportunity to really lay them out, really blast them for whatever they said, when you know that as good as it would feel to give it right back to them, you know it won't advance the dialogue and will most likely only inflame things. It is, again simply, "You can be right or you can be Love."

So perfect.