Purposeful and Fulfilling

More tidbits from Katrina Kenison's book, The Gift of an Ordinary Day.

"Yet I know that if I really want to encourage my own two children to follow a course in life more purposeful than accumulating wealth, power and prestige, I must first acknowledge the value of such a life myself. I need to show, by my own example, that the path to fulfillment has but little to do with mastery and conquest and much to do with coming to know oneself, finding pleasure in everyday events, doing work that matters, living in community with family and friends, being loved and loving in return."

Luke & Toby

Toby, Dawson & Payton

Luke, Dawson & school friends

Dawson & Payton and our neighborhood horses

I love the sense of community we have here and our everyday activities and I'm grateful for faraway family. Of course, there is still LOTS of navigating how to get to the 'fulfilling' part of some of our activities, like how much angst to spend on a teen who struggles to get assignments done on time, to push or not for tighter, higher test grades, and configuring an explanation as to why we are finishing another sport season with a coaching style that doesn't necessarily match our parenting style.

I suppose it is still all about the LEARNING - for both us and the boys.

"Learning well doesn't always mean scoring high. It also means acquiring the tools necessary to take on the most challenging work of all - becoming the person you are meant to be." ~Katrina Kenison

So for now, to the teen with a less than stellar grade, I say, push harder the next time around, spend more time, more thought, more effort so that you can prove something to yourself. Find a way to be challenged to improve, even just a little. And then walk that paper to the shredder because it is ALL DONE and tomorrow is coming.

And to the preteen who happily bounded off the soccer field with a win to cheering parents but a coach saying, 'You shouldn't have won that game', I say, chin up and let's look at your singular performance. Learn to self evaluate...did you give your all? Did you run a little harder than last week? Did you talk to the other players and create plays together? Yes, yes, yes? Then let's go celebrate that and understand that coaches are people, too, imperfect ones, and even they can be confused by their own swirling emotions. We'll let him be the owner of that reaction today and not get sucked into it.

Bring on some more ordinary days! We're ready.