It was again a headliner in our news yesterday : Several youngsters, age 14-25, are not feeling comfortable in their skin, more depressed teenagers…It sounds as if it is becoming a plague !
Children are drifting without direction, feeling lost or feeling drowned in a bunch of illusions…Our children are not broken, they don’t need to be fixed ! Their view is disturbed.
They have to put on new glasses and learn how to perceive their world differently. They have to put things back into perspective and broaden their view.
That means parents too. Children often mirror their parents’ behaviour. When you coach a child, you often need to re-educate the parents !
A lot of my coaching time in sports is spent on learning children how to cope with all distractions on and around the field. I can’t help but having the impression they need to defend themselves more and more against adult behaviour !
How often do we stress on the negative ? Are we feeding them that they have to focus on results ? “Don’t let me down son !” or “Don’t dissapoint me !” Or are we stimulating them with a “Surprise me”, or an “I know you can do this !”
I often hear parents shouting at their kids next to the field. They see their son not finishing a shot properly and they yell : “Jason, are you stupid or what ?”
You can immediately see the body language of that player altering, now he is completely out of the game (not focused), tensed (he uses more muscles then necessary) and he lost strength (the remark of his father “hit” him and made him go weak !)
Does shattered glass bring new opportunities or are they just broken windows attracting more bad luck ?
Can you see who hides beneath that brokenness ? Or are you sticking your head in the sand, being blind to truth ?
Can you see who hides behind the mask ? Or are you just keeping up appearances aswell ?
The difference lies in how we perceive our children, how we treat them and what we “feed” them !
Phuro! Be inspired!
Phuro! 