We’re all busy Doing. And we’re all getting stressed, anxious, burned-out and sick from all our doings. Kids included!
Kids especially!
Warning: Too much Doing is harmful for our kids. Side effects include: anxiety, depression, stomach aches, headaches and other physical symptoms, eating disorders, cutting, addictions, suicide.
Antidote: Engage in more Being. Play more; dream more; have down time – unstructured time to maybe even do nothing. More emphasis on internal qualities like perseverance, compassion, grit; as opposed to over-excessive focus on achievement and performance as the end-all.
We all need balance. Balance between work and play; between doing and being; between internal and external.
We need to Be well so we can Do well. When we keep pushing ourselves to Do well, we are paying a high price. That price is ourselves. We are losing ourselves in the Doing/Busy process. We are losing our health and well-being.
Kids especially, as they’re growing their young selves into supposedly mature beings. They’re losing their childhood to the extreme pressures and demands of extraordinariness. It’s all geared to peak performance and perfectionism. Good enough isn’t good enough. Children are like little pressure cookers ready to explode.
The explosions are happening right before our eyes: with every child/teen who cuts themselves, with every heroin user, with every suicide.
Kids need to see, feel and experience that life is rich with all facets: the Doing to get somewhere, to achieve and produce; And the Being to know one’s self , to connect with self and others, to cultivate and exercise one’s inner resources to live through the twists and turns that most assuredly come along the way.
No amount of Doing can fill an internal void or emptiness. It starts from the inside and radiates outward. Focusing and developing our Being paves the way towards a richly productive, meaningful, joyful and satisfying life.
Let’s help our kids know they’re good enough as is and they will grow to be the best version of themselves. Let’s help them tune into their likes and interests and shine a light on their strengths, and they will come into their authentic selves. They will Be well so they will Do well in whatever they decide upon.
Better to be a happy ordinary than an unhappy extraordinary.
Thanks for popping by. Share with all the overly-Doing parents you know.
