From a distance

We are living a fast paced life. This has been very true for me, considering that my daughter just completed her 2 years of Montessori and is all set to move on to 1st Standard in the new academic session. It seems like yesterday only that she went to school for the first time and wouldn’t want to go inside. Two years later, we were invited to school for her first ‘on-stage’ cultural show performance. I surely had a few anxious moments before she actually came on stage to perform her “Chiddiya(Sparrow)” dance. It was surely a chirpy performance by all the kids of her class.

This blog is about how life takes its beautiful course while you watch your child grow up from an infant to a toddler to a young kid almost magically…from a distance. I am sure this feeling is echoed by a coach who can only watch his player fight out his battle while all he can do is watch. Ofcourse, we always share the feedback once the match is over so as to prepare him for the next big fight.

While this is more from a parent’s point of view, the applicability is not restricted to young kids as these principles hold true at any stage in life.

Before the start of the show, the Principal Mrs Goswami gave a short message to the parents. I have tried to pen down some of the things which I really liked.

Handling Pressure – The child has to learn to handle stress in their own ways and we, as parents should encourage our child to participate in all activities. We should be protective about our kid but need to ensure that the child understands that its okay even if they don’t win sometimes. We build a lot of pressure around us by setting our expectations but fail to provide the support system which the child requires to be able to give his best. There are instances where children go to the extent of committing suicides because they are unable to cope up with the pressures. Childhood is the time from which we need to support our child mentally to become strong and take things in his/her stride.

I am reminded of a wonderful story about the cocoon and the butterfly which I had read some time back. It is about a man that found a cocoon, and got it home to watch it turn into a butterfly. As the butterfly inside matured, it struggled to come out of its cocoon, but couldn't quite get free out of it. After a lot of patience, the man became tired of waiting and decided to help the butterfly. He removed the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly was pleased, but it had a swollen body and small, wrinkled wings. As a result, the butterfly never succeeded in flying and spent its entire life crawling around. What the man didn't understand was that the struggle required for the butterfly to break out of its cocoon actually forced fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom. It is the struggle that causes the butterfly to develop its ability to fly. Moral of the story – Our own struggle gets the best out of us!

 

As I look around me, pressure is there on everyone. I guess, it does bring out the best in us only if it is up to a certain limit. What’s my mantra? “Take realistic stretched targets and leave no stone unturned to ensure that you achieve it”….I know its easier said than done. But trust me; our results will surely be more encouraging this way.

Do click on this link to read my earlier blog on this related topic “Pressure” as well.

Do drop in your comments as well on my blog and share it with your near and dear ones, incase you liked it.

P.S - Next time you find yourself in trouble and no one's coming to help you, remember that God wants to you come out of it yourself while he is watching you....from a distance!