I Can Do Hard Things...

Last night we had some friends come over that have two adorable girls, the oldest of which is twelve and has cerebral palsy. She is lucky in the sense she isn't wheelchair bound, but she still has plenty of struggles. Her mom told me about a great teaching moment that had taken place that morning as her oldest daughter told her sister, "You can do hard things. I do hard things every day."

  

Now fast forward to this morning as I was scrolling through Facebook and happened upon a video of a one-legged dancer that was amazing. His dancing was smooth with his partner and without a falter in his step. Here is a man that can do hard things.

So the question before me now is; how does one teach that to kids? I want my kids to KNOW and BELIEVE that they can do hard things. I don't want my children to learn that avoiding hard things is the best way to go, albeit sometimes re approaching it in a way that makes it less hard is necessary. I want my kids to be able to approach hard things head on and have the confidence and ability to try and struggle until they have completed the task at hand.

I know part of it is my example, do I approach hard things with the steadfastness I want to see in my kids?

Another part is encouraging my kids without coddling them. Telling them they can do it, being their personal cheerleader, but not giving them an excuse to quit. Along with this one comes patience on my part, this is where I feel like I need to grow a bit. I have to have the patience to encourage my children to figure things out on their own, not just showing them the path. Too often I am in a hurry or have a running checklist in my head of things to accomplish that day, I need to let that list go sometimes.

At the end of the day I want my kids to tackle their mountain and enjoy the view from the top.