Recently my kids have been on a Robin Hood watching binge…so the movie is playing all the time in the background of whatever we are doing…and the other day I over heard something I’d never paid attention to before. It was the phrase, “On Guard”.
Before Robin Hood attacks his opponent he always puts them on alert by shouting “On Guard!” And not only does Robin Hood afford that luxury to his opponents but the bad guys even follow suit. “On Guard!” they shout before swinging their swords…
On Guard…get ready…be prepared…something is coming and you need to be paying attention.
I had never noticed, thought, or cared much about that practice until this week….and I started to think…
Recently Elizabeth and I have been taken off guard by some unpleasant situations…things we didn’t even know that we needed to be “on guard” for. How much easier things would be now and days if bad guys still yelled “On Guard” before they attacked. How much easier would life be if before a hardship hit you were alerted and allowed to steel yourself up before the blow was delivered?
Now before, I continue…our hardships are small compared to most, we are fine and I’m not complaining…just wondering and thinking out loud…
Simon (my 10 year old) and I were talking about “bad guys” the other day….how you don’t always know someone is a bad guy until it’s too late…and again I started thinking about recent events and the phrase “On Guard”. No one is going to let myself (or my kids) know that trouble is coming and to prepare. Which means that not only do I need to be better prepared but I need to teach my kids how to be on guard so that when swords are drawn they are ready.
Now this is the part in the post where I should be able to share some insight or wisdom on the subject…but I don’t have any.
I want my children to believe people are good, that the world is kind, and that all of us want the best for each other…I believe it, I really do…but I also know that some people are bad, very bad, that the world can be cruel, and that some terrible people will take advantage of you. How can I help my children find the good and defend themselves from the bad? I can barely do that myself…
I wish I had an answer, a fool proof answer that can be accomplished in 3 easy steps…but I don’t. I understand how to protect myself and how to protect my family…I just don’t want to spend my life walking around with my weapon drawn. I suppose I should have chosen another topic for today…because today I have no solutions…just random thoughts…and the wish that all things bad would have to announce themselves loudly with an “On Guard” before proceeding with their plans.
And until then all I can do is eat pancakes. It is International Pancake Day after all. (So be on guard….there will be a lot of breakfast food talk going on today over on our Facebook page :))
-liZ
Just bringing up the subject is great! We don’t always have to have an answer right then. To get ourselves thinking is a way to be “on guard”. 🙂 I suggest to my girls (now 12 and 15) to be open to the kindness of others and believe that most people are good. However, I do suggest (over the years in discussions we have had with them) that they do have an “on guard” mentality. In the sense of “Listen to your heart and your mind. If something, anything, is making you uncomfortable or you are questioning what is going on, or it is contrary to what you have learned from us, then be on guard!” Put up that wall, step back. “Listen to your heart and mind” are kind of our go to words. 🙂 It really does cover a lot of aspects of our lives–for young and old.