“I want, I want, I want!”
Those were the words my parents would throw back at me when I was younger, complaining or clamoring for them to buy or give me something I wanted. They always said it back to me in this overly dramatic whiny voice, as if to make a point of how ridiculous and ungrateful I sounded. They had a point.
They were trying to open up my eyes to what really mattered, as well as teach me a lesson to be grateful for what I already had. I got the lesson, eventually.
Now, as a grown woman and mother myself, it’s a lesson I am trying so hard to teach my own kids.
There is a sense of entitlement in today’s kids that sometimes makes my stomach turn. I can’t explain entirely where it came from and I certainly don’t have the answer of how to magically solve it. I can say this: my husband and I do our best to teach gratitude and contentment in our home. It’s not always easy, especially as we model the behavior and actions (hey, we’re human and sometimes we slip up!).
Our intention is that our kids will stop wanting things, and instead focus on WHO they want to BECOME.
Every kid gets asked the same question multiple times, “What do you want to do when you grow up?” Some kids dream and answer with their wild and curious imagination (as they should!), “I want to be a superhero!” or “I’m going to fight dragons and save the world!” Some kids dream with a little more logic and less make-believe, “I want to be a ballerina,” or, like my son Zackery will tell you, “I want to be an engineer for Lego.”
***shameless plug, if anyone has a contact or connection at Lego,
we’d love an introduction.***
As kids get older, as they turn from double-digits to drivers, from graduates to grown-ups, their sense of dreaming and imagination often disappears. Possibilities that once lived in their hearts are lost or buried.
I’m not here today to try to solve that either. I’m not here to explain how a dream gets squashed over time. Or why we don’t allow our kids to hold onto big outrageous goals and desires. Why we tend to respond with, “that’s nice, but you can’t really do/be that.” My gut tells me that all comes from a place of fear, and that’s not a topic I’m prepared to dive into today.
I’m here today, writing this to ask you: What do YOU want?
Who do you want to be?
What do you want to be doing?
I know many of you have probably not asked yourself those questions in a really long time. And you might not know how to answer that now, today. That’s okay. There’s no better time to start wondering than now. Allow yourself time to think about what you want. Not just what you want on the surface (a latté, straighter hair and less “baggage” around my hips), but what do your heart and soul want?
Who are you? What does THAT being want and need?
I dare you to ask. I give you permission to know. Allow yourself the time and space to find the answer.
Here’s to the BEST version of You!
p.s. Do you need some help in getting back to who you are? Figuring out how to strip away all the busy-ness so you can get quiet and allow your inner-self to be heard? You can do that at my upcoming workshop “Restoring The ME In Mom” on August 24th in Reno, NV. Check it out… >>> LEARN MORE and REGISTER