Future Choices

It may seem like there is only yoga happening at home at the moment but we are writing Matric, and note I say “we”!  This is such a defining time in a young person’s life and there are so many decisions to be made that will affect their futures. Of course, there is also the pressure of the exams. Our mantra is “a healthy body in a healthy mind” and she has already started to balance the work with yoga, gym and shiatsu.

We hit a little wobbly about a week ago when she was filling in university application forms and realised that maybe what she had been thinking about doing next year was not really what she wanted to do. Problem is she hasn’t thought about anything else and is a little overwhelmed by the choices. There is such a wide range, with degrees that never even existed five years ago, and she is the queen of procrastination.

I find that in our desire to help out and offer advice it so easy to impose our own ideas and desires onto our children. Perhaps we see them in a different space to the one they have in their minds. I was reminded a little while ago about how we sometimes overlook their strengths, because we are so busy trying to make everything perfect.

At a dinner, someone was talking about the reaction we have to a school report where for example the child might be doing really well in History and not so well in Maths. Our first response is that they should get extra Maths, try to get the mark up, etc. What about if we said: “Wow, look at your History – you are really good at that!” and then focussed on giving them more opportunity to develop the very subject that they love.

And that is what they need to learn for themselves too. It is all about learning to play to our strengths - which reminded me about a quote by Albert Einstein, I saw recently:

“...if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

To all the matriculants (and their mothers) – good luck, and may you find your bliss!