T I M E
This one is especially hard for me. My environment I can control, I can mold it and change it and make it how I want. How consistent and committed and motivated I am is also up to me. I can schedule and plan and create new habits and routines until I find something that works.
But time...
It is constant. Time doesn't wait for us. It never goes fast enough when we are waiting for change and it never slows down when we want things to stay the same.
If we are in a battle against time, then we are missing the big picture. If we are too focused on the end result and the product, then we aren't enjoying and learning from the journey.
Plant a seed and watch it grow...
Shinichi Suzuki used the analogy of planting a seed and watching it grow when teaching children. I think it can be applied to those of all ages as well. Planting a seed is just the first step. In order for the seed to grow, we must water the soil, give it enough sunlight, and nurture it's environment. We must be consistent and give it time. Growth won't happen right away and since every seed is different, there's no way to predict precisely when we will see growth.
Just because we can't always see growth happening with our kids, doesn't mean growth isn't there. Every step, the big ones and the small, are monumental and deserve our attention and our presence. There is no sense in rushing the process. Instead, we can try to be present in the process because that is what we can control. Being present is exactly where our kids need us to be.
Kids will learn to walk when they are ready to walk, they will learn to read when they are ready to read, they will learn everything they need to learn when they are ready. We as parents are also learning how to be parents as we go. We are all just figuring it out as we go and we all deserve whatever time it takes us to get there. We are never late or early. We are exactly where we are suppose to be.
When a flower doesn't bloom,
you fix the environment in which it grows,
not the flower.
We are not broken. Parents and kids are never broken. We always have the opportunity available to us to change, evolve, grow and LEARN if we can be consistent, consider our environment and give it time.
