SEEING THE LIGHT!!
I learned many lessons growing up about being responsible, working hard and doing my best. My parents, like most parents in that generation, had a strong work ethic and dealt with problems by either sweep things under the rug or fixing them.
I don't recall many lessons that embraced the idea of "being in the moment." Children seize the moment all the time through play and creative thinking. When my children were small, I loved to play with them and become apart of the creative world of their (and my) imagination.
So what happens when your children grow up? Where do we, as middle age adults, find ways to cherish each moment? How can we learn to empower ourselves and inspire our children as they grow into adulthood to see each experience, bad or good, as an opportunity to grow. For me, I have found these teachings and "life philosophy" through a spiritual journey. WHERE CAN YOU FIND YOURS?
Some ideas to consider:
BREAKING IT DOWN
Life seems to be plagued with stresses, challenges and expectations. In our world today, it feels like this pressure cooker is imposed on our children at a younger and younger age. My 17 year old son recently got a job for the summer. After two weeks, he came home and said "this is not working for me." It would have been easy to fall into the trap of giving my "parental advice" on how it is important to work and he should earn some money, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah ... Instead, I engaged him in the process of better defining what parts of the job he didn't like and we talked about alternative ways of dealing with this. End result, I hope he has gotten the message that his feelings are valued and he should trust his gut reactions and not discount them whatever the final solution will be.
TAKING RISKS
Demands for success-financial and otherwise-can easily dictate how we behave. For me, taking risks was always associated with anxiety and fear of failure. In recent years, I have focused on learning to embrace risks as opportunities and redirect my energy on the process of "stepping out of the box" rather than the outcome. You will be surprised the joys and fun you can have when you let go of the anxiety.
LETTING GO
ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING! When your thinking is positive, your actions can follow. I have come to appreciate that the small things that may bother me are not worth using my energy for. Often it takes a crisis to help people put things into perspective. I work toward having that perspective all the time.
Appreciate and be grateful for the positive things that surround you-they may be as simple as a sunny day or seeing the moon in the morning sky. I believe the expression is "Smell the Roses." Without saying a word, we can teach our children this invaluable way of thinking and living through modeling this and making this part of who we are (or are becoming).
JUST SHOW UP
We have coined that phrase in my family to mean-you never know what opportunities are available if you don't seize the moment. Plus, having a open mind and less expectations invites something valuable into your life even if you do not realize it at the time.