🤔 I seriously wonder about this notion of "making your ancestors proud".
I'm pretty sure a lot of my ancestors were jerks. Even the heroic ones.
On top of which, plenty would be confused if I even *tried* to explain our problems today, and strategies we're using to surmount them.
Best we can hope for from our ancestors is probably, "Child, I understood maybe every third word you uttered, but I also see you made it to adulthood, so you must be doing something right. Keep doing that, I guess?"
@MLClark Perhaps it is that because they were jerks you have learned in your soul how NOT to be one.. because some of them are us, now.
i think you are 100% correct about the 2nd half of your comment.
Now that's a generous thought, mims. Thanks for sharing it!
@MLClark My ancestors are mostly dead, so their concerns are off the table. I'm much more motivated by what my son or my niece think of me.
@MLClark
"making your ancestors proud" is convenient motivational fiction, which is impossible to disprove.
From what I have seen, my ancestors wanted us to be happy and well and good, and would be troubled to see how many of us are not.