Reinvent Yourself and Your Future

  
               The power to reinvent yourself is within your grasp. The essence of a new you lies deep inside your being. The opportunity for a new beginning and a new future is already inside, waiting to emerge.

                 Parents often struggle with the memory of past parenting mistakes and the consequences they witness in their child’s behavior. The first key to reinventing yourself as a parent is to make the choice to change. It is human nature to resist change but it is, foremost, a choice. Look at your daily dealings with your child. Ask the question, “What are they learning?” As a witness to your decisions and attitudes, children are the re-creation of you. Give them values and decision-making skills that will carry them forward into their future with promise and peace.

                 The second key to reinvention is rescheduling overbooking. There are so many choices for activities today that they have clouded the parenting message. Overbooking yourself and your children can lead to fatigue and burnout. The risk of over-stimulation can alter the ability to find peace and calm in the push of society.  Reinvent the way your family spends their activity time. Schedule both rest and quiet time as a means of restoration.

                 A third consideration to reinventing yourself lies in the question, “Is your WHY strong enough?” As you change your actions and reactions, resistance to change rears it’s head again. Is your desire to change strong enough to resist habitual patterns?  Do you desire a different path for your family, even when it seems easier to go back to old ways? To quote Churchill, “Never give up!” It is the only way to win the war.

                 Remember to take the time to notice small successes. Small successes are still successes. Applaud yourself and your child for making change. Children are the unique extension that allows mortals to live forever. The words of Pablo Casals (1876-1973) reflect the reasons for our reinvention. May they inspire you and your children to move toward greatness.

                  “ Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again. And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also teach them what they are?        
     We should say to each of them: Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you.
Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move. You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel? You must work, we must all work, to make the world worthy of its children.”

            The power of reinvention is that the future is bright and full of possibilities once more. Pick the future you desire for yourself and your children and run quickly towards the promise of tomorrow.