As the beautiful September weather in Iowa began, I along with a couple of buddies and our kids went to experience the outdoors for my kids’ first camping adventure. With the kids running around crazy enjoying the best of what nature had to experience, the parents noticed a bit of an argument start to brew between the kids.
What’s the first reaction typically as a parent? Often it’s to dive in and help solve the problem. I’ve been guilty of this plenty of times. But one difficult part of parenting is while there are times that warrant getting involved, many times I’ve found I’ve needed to take a step back and give my kids the experience to try to work through challenges.
If I come in and interrupt to tell them what to do to solve their argument, what will that teach them? I just robbed them of the opportunity to practice critical skills of being a problem solver, great teammate, strong communicator. I eliminate opportunities for them to grow from the challenges presented so that lessons can be learned for future success.
This shelter we provide our kids from learning moments is no different than how we shelter ourselves from the opportunity to learn and grow. The mind has a very influential way of keeping us attracted to safety. By playing it safe, we tend to focus on what we’re comfortable doing instead of stepping up to the line of uncomfortable and trying a new experience that creates learning moments.
At work. In the gym. In the community. With our relationships.
The magnet of comfort will always be pulling our mind but remember through difficulty comes moments of learning on how we persevere. When we normalize facing challenges and create that expectation for ourselves, we also normalize learning moments that humble us today so that we can succeed tomorrow.
We will constantly be faced with challenges. Don’t shy away from them. Instead, find the opportunity with every difficulty you face to grow little by little each day. The moments of learning compound so quickly but we must first be vulnerable to face those challenges and let the education unfold.
Take your step: when you identify your next challenge where you have an option, face it head on or step to the side and avoid it, instead of automatically pulling towards comfort take a moment to reflect. What can come of this challenge? What opportunities exist where I can grow and create a new experience to learn from? Find the opportunity in in the challenge you see to choose a path to face the challenge, instead of missing out on an opportunity to learn for tomorrow.