This past weekend I took my family for a small getaway to the Wisconsin Dells. It is off season, so not a lot was open, but nevertheless, hiking is free (and the water park we went to was the exact opposite). I have two boys, aged 5 and 2, who couldn’t be more opposite of each other.
Raising children is basically, like raising animals who can talk back to you. They have their own will, but lack absolutely any experience. However, one thing I constantly catch myself doing is: Justifying my decisions to them. They don’t need justification, they don’t even need to negotiate. They are kids, they need to hear “yes” or “no” and follow the example and guidance of their parents.
These two little dudes taught me a lesson in courage and resilience this weekend (somehow, they found time between “ice wars” in the hotel room and exploring assorted flavors of ice cream floats).
My oldest has a very soft and introverted personality and is often afraid to try new things until he sees someone he trusts do the same thing. This weekend however, he did many things that scared him. After coming off a very fast (and dark) water slide for the first time he looked somber, so I asked him “How was that?”. After several long seconds to process he said: “That was EPIC and I would have never known if I didn’t try!” He taught me about the benefits of just doing something that scares you.
My youngest son is the polar-opposite: strong-willed, determined, oblivious to hazards and danger, etc. We spent one of our days hiking in a popular state park fully prepared to hold an extra 30 pounds on our backs. For those of you with kids, you know that often our toddlers like to hike in crocs or rain boots, usually touting their favorite stuffed animal, and our son is no exception. While wearing his inappropriate hiking attire, he saw the top of the bluffs we were ascending and decided that “straight up” the vertical rocks was the only way possible. To anyone with a brain bigger than a grapefruit; it wasn’t possible, but to my son, it was. He kept trying to climb the vertical wall in his rain boots, with bunny in hand while saying “I need to get to top” incessantly. He wholeheartedly believed it was possible to go STRAIGHT UP (!!!), even though the rest of us were telling him “no” and trying to steer him up the marked path. My two-year-old taught me that focusing on the end goal can deafen negativity and those trying to stop you.
Two simple lessons from two simple boys. 1. Do something that scares you 2. Remain laser focused on the final goal. They both inspired to do something that scared me, and something that seems impossible (for me). Saturday, I faced my crippling fear of heights and went on a vertical-drop water slide- and felt so awesome afterwards, and today I registered for a 10k run in 9 weeks (and I don’t run).
I want to encourage you to do something that scares you. The rewards outweigh the risks most of the time!
-Marc