Tuesday's Take
Somewhere along the way, their has been a drastic increase in the number of people that believe strength is bad and weakness is good. Okay, maybe that's a bit far but we have definitely crossed a line where we are trying to limit and punish toughness and success while pushing and rewarding softness and mediocrity.
I understand completely that a need exists for a certain level compassion and meekness in people and society. I just wish others would realize there is also a need for toughness and strength. Not just in the physical sense but in the mental and spiritual realm as well. For some reason people fail to make this correlation between the physical, mental and spiritual when it comes to strength. If you don't allow people to grow from the tough lessons learned in loss and pain, how can you expect them to not quit during really tough times.
The unfortunate truth is that everyone can't be rich but everyone can achieve success, depending on their definition of success. The number one determining factor to achieve success, or to be one of the few rich people, is one's willingness to work and their unwillingness to quit! Like everything in life, the only way to get better at something is through practice. From a very young age, your resiliency begins to form. Children will continually work and strive to achieve small goals like reaching a cookie on the counter and retrieving a favorite toy by themselves until a parent tells them they can't or they continue to do it for the child. The more and more you allow your child to work things out and develop solutions, the better they become at it and the more confidence and resiliency they develop.
As a father I intend to allow my children to feel the results of their actions and or in action. While I want and hope and pray no serious harm or pain come to them, I want them to learn how to get up after falling down. I want them to know a loss or setback is never the end but a new beginning. There is a quote from Thomas Edison regarding his creative journey in inventing the light bulb where when asked how he maintained his desire after so many failed attempts. Mr. Edison replied, "I've not failed. I just found 10,000 ways that didn't work." That is the resiliency I hope to instill in my children. I don't want them to accept false ceilings or fragile boundaries set up by fear and stereotypes.
I want my children to be the soldiers of their generation. I want them mentally, spiritually and physically prepared to fight whatever battles may lie ahead. I want to make sure they never know the shackles of mental slavery.
I understand completely that a need exists for a certain level compassion and meekness in people and society. I just wish others would realize there is also a need for toughness and strength. Not just in the physical sense but in the mental and spiritual realm as well. For some reason people fail to make this correlation between the physical, mental and spiritual when it comes to strength. If you don't allow people to grow from the tough lessons learned in loss and pain, how can you expect them to not quit during really tough times.
The unfortunate truth is that everyone can't be rich but everyone can achieve success, depending on their definition of success. The number one determining factor to achieve success, or to be one of the few rich people, is one's willingness to work and their unwillingness to quit! Like everything in life, the only way to get better at something is through practice. From a very young age, your resiliency begins to form. Children will continually work and strive to achieve small goals like reaching a cookie on the counter and retrieving a favorite toy by themselves until a parent tells them they can't or they continue to do it for the child. The more and more you allow your child to work things out and develop solutions, the better they become at it and the more confidence and resiliency they develop.
As a father I intend to allow my children to feel the results of their actions and or in action. While I want and hope and pray no serious harm or pain come to them, I want them to learn how to get up after falling down. I want them to know a loss or setback is never the end but a new beginning. There is a quote from Thomas Edison regarding his creative journey in inventing the light bulb where when asked how he maintained his desire after so many failed attempts. Mr. Edison replied, "I've not failed. I just found 10,000 ways that didn't work." That is the resiliency I hope to instill in my children. I don't want them to accept false ceilings or fragile boundaries set up by fear and stereotypes.
I want my children to be the soldiers of their generation. I want them mentally, spiritually and physically prepared to fight whatever battles may lie ahead. I want to make sure they never know the shackles of mental slavery.
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