Potential and Practice

As most people who are parents will agree: children are some of our greatest teachers or mirrors in this world.

Last Sunday my family wanted to go to a local ice-skating rink and we decided to make a day out of it. I’m not big on activities like that. I’ll try most things once or twice, but I’d much rather observe them, take some photos, guard the bags etc. You know, the mom stuff. They went down to the dressing area and got themselves ready for this adventure. My son is 7 years old and he is not quite as confident on the skates as his sister and dad. He had been going through an incredibly challenging time at school and this day was his idea. He got onto the slippery surface and pretty much like a new born rein deer opened his legs in a giraffe split and he was on the icy floor. Luckily the site had some skilled officials on the circuit and he was with my son in seconds to pick him up. He got up again and went down unceremoniously a couple of times after that.

Looking at his sister (who is 5 years older than him) skate away and have fun with her dad, didn’t help his emotional state much either. Pretty soon we had tears and you could just see the dismay on his face as he started moving towards me. I waited for him with open arms and he was very upset.

In that moment I realized that he was allowing self-doubt and emotions to get the better of him and I took him close to me with the words: “The only difference between you and all of them is practice. You can do exactly what they can do, you just need to be patient with yourself and practice a bit more. You can do it.”

Immediately his little face lights up like a light bulb! It took him about 5 minutes to amp himself up to go back on the circuit. He was still a bit wobbly for a couple of minutes, but about 15 minutes later he was moving around in circles and clinging to the sides a lot less than he did previously!

All that he needed was someone to remind him of his potential and to help him see a different angle on his reality. He was just measuring himself against what he was seeing around him and felt he was failing. This tied so deeply into the theme of his week at school and I immediately knew where that wounding came from.

As parents we have to be so diligent to guard our kids’ hearts and we have to constantly redirect the false distortions and illusions that the world is trying to project onto them. Yes, he might not be an Olympic Skater (in his immediate or distant future), but he needs to know and understand that he has the same potential inside him as anyone else and should he choose to do it – he can do or become ANYTHING he wants to be!

There are too many limitations and opinions thrown at our kids from a young age. They have limited emotional resources and cannot process when we give them negative feedback about their abilities. They feel the energy of rejection or not measuring up. This can be totally toxic as an adult and I often see how adults hi-jack themselves because of an upbringing like this. Sad part is these adults ends up projecting that unto the next generation.

Now more than ever, the next generation needs us to believe in them and to help them see through distorted realities. They are our future and they will stand at the lead of a very different world to what we live in now. Instead of breaking a kid down with your words, help them see their light, their love and their unlimited potential! They deserve our love and support in that!

It’s time to keep ourselves accountable for the upbringing of the next leaders of the world.

Love and Moonlight, Leonie