A Critical Key To The Success Of Your Child In Life
Posted: May 17, 2019
By Master Christopher Rappold
While I know there are many ways to raise a child, I strongly believe an important element to impart on your child is the ability to “look for the good in all people and in all situations.” Think about it for a moment - what can be more important to share with your child than the healthy perspective of looking for the good? When one has the ability to see the silver lining in a cloud, it magically enables the person to dodge that feeling of helplessness that comes from feeling overwhelmed. It keeps the thinking in line and provides a balanced perspective. It reduces the likelihood of extremist type thinking where it is all or nothing. It provides a level of inner happiness and joy no matter what the situation. So how do you create this habit within your children? Well, like all habits, they are caught before they’re taught, which is to say you set the example.
Here are some thoughts that over time will make an impact.
1. Create the habit of showing your child there are always two sides to a story and often the first perception is negative. When a negative news story comes out, avoid rushing to judgment.
2. View and communicate setbacks you experience as opportunities to learn from. We all experience setbacks, share some of yours with your children and let them learn from your example how to deal with them.
3. Frequently ask the question, “What could be good about this?” Beware, typically the first answer you get back is, “nothing!” Practice training your mind to find something that could be good. It is a great exercise in creative thinking to no just jump at the first conclusion.
4. Break away from win or lose thinking and focus on progress made. I know you lost the game, but if the performance is getting better it is only a matter of time before they turn the page. Help them to see this.
While we all wish we could simply tell our child how to be and they would just do it, experience tells us that life just doesn’t work that way. Maybe the good part of this is that developing this in our children forces us to become more. Or maybe I am just trying to see the good in the hard but important work ahead.
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