Greetings Leaders,
A few weeks ago I was relaxing in a chair watching one of my grandsons play soccer as moms and dads yelled encouragement to their kids from the sideline. Some of them barked out commands to run faster, others let out whoops of joy as someone scored what appeared to be a goal of earth shattering importance. At half-time I looked down the sideline in amusement as the sound of the whistle signaled a flurry of activity as parents ran over to ensure their kids had water and give them advice on how to play the game. I understand that the parents were trying to coach their kids but as all of this unfolded I began to think of the Lady Dowager from Downton Abbey. Weird I know. I wondered what she would say about preparing our kids for their future?
My wife and I recently started binge watching Downton Abbey and one of our favorite characters is the Lady Dowager played by Maggie Smith. How I wish I had her wit and insight! In one episode she says…
All life is a series of problems which we must try and solve!
As parents, we sometimes try to shelter our kids from the realities of life. We make excuses for them by blaming the coach, their teammates or the referee. When we look at our lives, we also blame others and feel sorry for ourselves when things don’t go our way. We seem to think that life is supposed to be easy and that the goal in life is to not have any problems. Good luck with that one! Life is only a series of problems. Yes, there is some respite between the storm of events that we will encounter in life. But the reality is, to be prepared for life we need to approach it as a series of problems that need to be overcome. Life is going to be hard. Get over it. Instead of trying to make life easy, focus on how to be prepared to meet the challenges head on.
All the best!
All the time!
JT