Nurturing Attitude
I truly love my children, so I don’t try to make their daily life too easy.
As a parent, we have the golden opportunity to create an excellent adult. At the same time, it is also our duty to nurture their attitude to think, feel, and behave well.
It’s heartbreaking for any parent whenever their child is unhappy. But if we want our kids to reach their full potential as healthy and well-adjusted adults, then we must all work towards it. I always remind children that results don’t matter, but performance does. And remember parents: prepare the children for the road, not the road for the children.
When we remove all obstacles on the path of our children, then we make their life too easy. We don’t allow them to build life-coping skills they’ll need later to handle life’s hard realities. Initially, they may find it difficult to handle small problems. But if they don’t practice, their rejection, disappointment, and adversity will grow into adult-sized problems. Unless they learn healthy ways to cope with little stress early on and experience the pride and confidence that come when they push through an obstacle and emerge stronger, they won’t be ready to handle big issues.
It is required that as a parent we must train children that they don’t need us. We have enough time to slowly equip them to handle life as self-sufficient adults. True parenting is to think beyond instant gratification and short-lived happiness. Focus on character building rather than winning prizes anyway and focus on performance rather than short cuts.
Psychologists say a record number of students who are just 20+ are depressed because they claim they had magical childhoods, their parents are their best friends, and they never experienced tragedy or anything more than normal disappointments. It’s because now a days as parents, we over do parenting of our kids. From the perspective of being ideal parents, creating happy days for children, fighting their battles for them, we often forget to nurture their character, perseverance, patience, determination and qualities that they’ll need in their future life to be happy and successful.
A Real-Life Story of Resilience
Let me tell you about a boy named Aarav. Aarav loved basketball and dreamed of playing on his school’s team. However, he wasn’t very tall or strong, and during the trials, he didn’t get selected for the team. Aarav came home heartbroken and told his parents that he wanted to quit basketball altogether. But his father said, “Aarav, failure is part of the process. If you love the game, learn to win Work harder consistently.”
So Aarav started practicing every day. He watched videos, learned new drills, and spent hours perfecting his shots. There were days when no one was cheering for him, and it felt like no progress was being made. But Aarav kept going. Slowly, he became faster, more skilled, and more confident. By the next year, Aarav not only made the team but also became one of its key players.
What made Aarav proud wasn’t just the jersey he finally earned. It was the story behind it—the late-night practice sessions, the missed shots that taught him to aim better, and the determination to prove to himself that he could do it. Aarav didn’t just win a spot on the team; he built resilience and character that will help him in all parts of life.
Lessons for Life
Teach children to stay motivated even when nobody’s watching or cheering them. These kids are building resiliency. They learn early that the best way to deal with a problem is to face it rather than running away or expecting someone else to solve it for them.
It’s not trophies that build a child’s self-esteem but the stories behind those trophies. When a child grows up, their trophies stay at home, but the stories of how those trophies were earned travel in their mind.
I hope they know in their mind that home has security and they are capable of handling difficult things too if needed.
