Blog readers will be familiar with Billy Shore — a Timberland board member, author and the founder and executive director of Share our Strength, the nation’s leading organization working to end childhood hunger in America.  He’s also a father — and in a newly-released book, “If I Were Your Daddy, This Is What You’d Learn,” Billy is one of thirty-five dads who share the most important gifts they gave their children.

The book focuses on the inspirational and educational lessons today’s fathers are passing on to the next generation – contributing to the notion of “sustainable living” by developing children with the minds and hearts to value nature, to value other people, and to turn those values into actions.

Here’s an excerpt from what Billy Shore had to say about the values he feels are indispensable in teaching his three children:

People are so diverse. Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses, and we all approach things so differently. That’s why tolerance is so important in life. When you criticize, you attack differences like a prizefighter in a corner of the ring. When you’re tolerant, you suspend judgment ….

Novelist Walker Percy once said that passing life’s lessons on to our children is like two prisoners pushing notes between cell blocks. You never know if you’re getting through, but you keep doing it anyway. Years [after one especially important lesson], I heard [my son] Zach counseling a friend, “So-and-so did this, but he’s had a hard life. You can never know the whole story.” It felt pretty good to know that some of those messages got through after all.

That’s sustainable living.

If you’re interested in raising children who have a heart for the world, If I Were Your Daddy tells you how many powerful dads have done it. As a Timberland fan, you can preview the book by downloading Billy Shore’s entire chapter for free at www.IfIWereYourDaddy.com/billy-shore.

What’s the single most important lesson you would — or do — try to teach your children?

Tags: Bill Shore, Share Our Strength