Wednesday, 25 September 2013

Strength Of Character.

Strength of character. It's a great thing to have. Sadly it seemed to be lacking in my immediate forebears. You notice I use the word forebears? I did that because I didn't really want to say parents, but who am I kidding? I'm not casting blame. We are what we are when we are, if that makes any sense? I lacked it in my younger days, especially my teens. Lacking any strength of character was perhaps a reason why I was in trouble so often. But hey I had other issues to deal with. Not that I was too aware of them at the time, consciously at least, and I certainly wasn't into soul searching. That came later.

Looking back, I realise that my climb back to self respect came mostly in the shape of two particular probation officers. I shall tell you their names, because they were good men: Mr Record and Mr Garland. They saw some good in me. I am grateful for that. It didn't happen overnight though. There were quite a few lows, and brushes with authority before I finally came to some kind of agreement with myself and realised the futility and error of my ways. Not that I'm a perfect example of how to live one's life of course. I still have the occasional aberration. But I do try my best. I suspect I have developed a degree of character, and though I say so myself, it does have some strength to it.

My extremely handsome son George has lately displayed a strength of character that I lacked at his age. He is moving out of his digs at university this week and into new ones. He got on well with his flatmates but he disagreed with them on the subject of drug taking. EHS is vehemently against them. I am not going into details about this. It would serve no purpose. He decided he couldn't stay there. He told his flatmates why he was leaving and they understood. It makes me so proud that he stood by his principles. He showed strength of character.

EHS George's mother has strength of character. He must have got it from her.

What would I have done in those circumstances when I was a similar age? I suspect you probably know the answer to that.



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10 comments:

  1. Emma Springfield25 September 2013 at 21:14

    I am so proud of EHS George that I have tears in my eyes. Of course he got a strength of character from his mother. But he also got it from his father. It is obvious that you are very close to your son. He picked up a few things from you too. You had to pull yourself up by the bootstraps with no help or encouragement from family. The fact that you have two loving children shows that you did something right. It is easier to be morally upright when you have people who care that you can lean on. Be proud of EHS George. Be proud of SD (Sometimes Doubtful) John too.

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  2. Meanqueen25 September 2013 at 23:43

    That George is a clever lad, to stick by his principles and speak out on what he believes in. You have a fine lad there, a chip off the old block I think.

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  3. crafty cat corner26 September 2013 at 01:41

    Well done your lovely son. I had my Grandson living with me due to family problems from the age of 14 until he also went to Uni, unfortunately he was into all kinds of drugs and I witnessed him in all kinds of messy states. Its sad for the kids of today but due to pier pressure hard for them to say no. Luckily he is over the now and doing well.
    Your son has a wise head and will go a long way I'm sure.
    Briony
    xx

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  4. Geo.26 September 2013 at 01:51

    Your son made some good decisions, and apparently so did you.

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  5. Valerie26 September 2013 at 02:51

    Thank goodness for people like EHS George. With an attitude like he has he'll go far in this world.

    Not sure how many of your posts I've missed, John... my time lately is spent taking hubby to and from hospital.

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    Replies
    1. john bain26 September 2013 at 05:28

      Hi Valerie. You haven't missed much at all. I don't do as many posts these days.
      My very best wishes to you and your husband.

      Delete
    2. john bain26 September 2013 at 05:28

      Hi Valerie. You haven't missed much at all. I don't do as many posts these days.
      My very best wishes to you and your husband.

      Delete
  6. Sharkbytes27 September 2013 at 07:34

    Good for him! College life is full of so many choices having nothing to do with doing classwork.

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  7. Mr. Shife27 September 2013 at 18:34

    Sometimes it just takes us a little bit longer to find our way, and I'm glad that you finally did John. And good for EHS George. Glad to hear it. Take care.

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  8. VirginiaC29 September 2013 at 05:21

    Good for EHS George to take a stand and stick to his principles.
    He's a good kid, and now I admire him even more.
    I'm sure he'll do well in his studies...he's got his head glued on straight.

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