A guiding light

I am a godfather. My niece, my goddaughter, turned 32 today.

I think back to when my sister asked me to be a godparent and remember being absolutely stoked to be given the honour, and of being seen as someone who could be a role model for her as she grew up.

Looking up the definition of godparent, it simply refers to a person who presents a child at baptism and who might speak on the child’s behalf at some point in their life. I believe that being a godparent is so much more than that, and as I am a parent to 2 teenagers I feel that there isn’t much difference between being a godparent and an actual parent.

It is the right of every child to feel safe and secure, and it is the responsibility of us adults and in particular us parents to provide our children – all children – with as much positive influence as we possibly can, to steer them clear of harm and help them grow into happy, healthy and respectful adults themselves. I call it being their guiding light.

We all face challenges in our lives, often with our mental health and resilience being sorely tested. It is how we come through these challenges that provides us with the tools to help construct that light which we will use to guide our children through the pitfalls of life.

I have spoken a number of times about the challenges that I have faced and how I have accepted these as the life path that I am now on. I have learnt to live with and now be absolutely happy with my life as it now is. I have been torn and tortured by these events but now I use them, not as motivation, but as templates for how to be happy regardless.

Taking a negative and flipping it to see the positive takes time, persistence and more than a little courage. I am proud to say that after all I have been through in these past 5 years especially that I have displayed that persistence and courage to now be in a position to help my children – and godchildren – to face whatever challenges life throwns at them and be positive and happy despite whatever pain they might feel.

I feel that in my work as well. I bring myself to whatever presentation I am doing on any particular day. I am no longer afraid to reveal things about myself because I know that these won’t and don’t define me. My recruits have commented a number of times that they appreciate my honesty and I derive enormous pride and comfort from that, because not only am I teaching them skills for their jobs but I am also teaching them about attitudes for life.

I am happy to be their guiding light as well.