Sometimes it can feel like parenting is a one-thousand-piece puzzle… all ocean. It’s hard. I believe it’s meant to be.
Why?
Because we become better people when it’s hard. It stretches us and teaches us important lessons about our character.
But when we’re going through that hard stuff, we rarely sit back and think, “Gee this is hard. I am so glad for the learning I’m experiencing right now!”
Researchers have discovered a trick for getting through things like this. They recommend that we write letters to our non-parent selves covering what we wish we had known back then. If the letter can list various ways in which we’ve grown, or outline the many things we’ve learned about our lives, even better.
There’s a chance that if you do that today, you might be surprised. You’ll see that you’ve accumulated some wisdom. Experience has shaped and molded you. You’ve grown. When we get to the other side of challenging things, we tend to feel stronger and more competent.
That’s my challenge for you this week.
Lighten the load, not by taking a load off, but by pausing to recognise your growth and strength. You might just find that you’re doing better at this parenting thing than you thought.
