Lead by example. Children not only see better than adults but they can taste what they see in a way adults have forgotten. Their essence absorbs energy without the filters that we’ve developed in the process of maturing in this world. Children naturally are nourished, for either the good or bad of that inner food, by the energetic states they pick up from those around them.

If we will taste what we give our children to eat — psychologically, emotionally speaking — then we will gradually come to understand that we should never feed them anything we don’t want ourselves. For instance, what do we teach children when we’re angry or impatient? What do we teach them when they see us anxious over some news?

Children and sponges have a lot in common. They soak up what is around them. Words that are in contrast with conditions are absorbed by children in the form of conflict. On the other hand, if they “taste” our inner silence, they’ll want to be nourished in time by what they have seen. And what could be more healthful and healing to those around you who are distressed than your calm detachment from any pain they may experience?

What all of us need is awareness of the reality of our interior life and its impact on others around us. However, the fear that we may have fallen or failed our children gives them not our wish for solid ground, but instead a soiled ground. Just drop the moments in which you find yourself compromised. Intend to love and let it show you what is not loving. Be as consciously kind as you can be, which means to not express (but watch instead) your own negative states. Be as encouraging as possible without producing false hope. Speak the truth at all times without being cruel or unnecessarily over-correcting. And when asked for what you think is right, dare to speak it in spite of the consequences.

When it comes to the overall well being of your children — all of your relationships, for that matter — there is nothing more important for you to do than to stay awake as best you can. It may be invisible to the eye, but the human heart needs the energy of love to grow, and this holds especially true for our children. Giving them the right kind of “foods” to grow, to successfully develop their essence, begins with being conscious of the kind of energy you’re expressing moment to moment. This is why being present to yourself is the best present of all for all that you love.