Ahmed Shaami
The potential for happiness and greatness lies in every child. They are all capable of doing things. There is no happiness gene, no success gene, and no doer of extraordinary things gene to make them perform extraordinarily. It is not possible for us to change whatever challenges they will face in their lives. But what you can do is to give them the skills so that these challenges are never able to break them. Stress, tragedy, trauma, and adversity in life can give you great setbacks but once you teach them resilience, they will become capable to bounce back from it easily. Becoming resilient will make your kids braver, more curious, and more adaptable to the constantly changing world.
All parents want the small humans to become healthy and thriving adults by removing obstacles from their way. It would be wonderful to scoop them up and lift them over the things that can cause them to stumble but it won’t necessarily do them any favor. To develop the skills they need to flourish, a little bit of stress is life-giving. Nurture within them the strategies to deal with the challenges to come in their life. Here is how you can do that:
Build a strong emotional connection:
Becoming a helicopter parent can never help you save your child from getting stuck in problems. You have to build a strong emotional connection with them that makes them feel loved. When your kids will have your unconditional support, they will feel strong enough to seek guidance and make an effort to solve their own problems.
Encourage them to take risks:
Constant fears of parents do not allow their children to take risks and learn on their own. A better strategy is to encourage them to take risks. It will internalize the message that they are strong enough. Once children embrace risks, they will learn to push themselves and bounce back from setbacks.
Teach them to embrace mistakes:
Once you make your children failure avoiders, they turn into anxious adults. Focusing on the end result scare them not to even make an effort to achieve what they want. Instead, as a parent your strategy should be to focus on the journey towards achieving that goal. Once they fail, teach them to admit their mistakes and then adopt a new way to solve their problems. It will help them to develop a growth mindset.
Exercise:
People who exercise regularly are more resilient to stress than the rest. You need to develop the habit of doing exercise from an early age by stressing more on their physical activity. Go out with them and kick a ball, throw a Frisbee, and play games with them in the park. You can teach a lot while playing with them.
Teach them to remain calm:
In later life, stress can take many worse forms. If your child is not used to controlling their emotions, it can cause damages to their mind and body as an adult. Teach them how to remain calm in tensed situations. Practice breathing exercising with them and help them how to process a difficult situation clearly.
Nurture optimism:
For preparing your child to cope with the challenges of the world, teach them optimism. It does not mean that you invalidate how they feel, instead, acknowledge their view of the world. Introduce them to the one in which you focus on what is left, rather than what has been lost.
Schools do not provide a solid foundation for your kids to grow into happy and healthy adults. It is your duty as a parent to provide them with that foundation to come back when the world starts to feel wobbly. Resilience builds a belief in your child and this is the best gift you can ever give to them.
