I hope every classroom in America was talking about Tiger Woods this past Monday. If I was still a principal our weekly school meeting would have definitely highlighted his miraculous return to golf. Sure he definitely has had his share of mistakes but what a life lesson for every boy, girl, or for that matter all of us at any age! Our son shared this video with me and you have to watch it: Youtube:Tiger.
It just renews your faith. Tiger is a walking billboard on how through persistence, confidence and with sincere, purposeful effort we all can make a dream a reality. It truly seems he now realizes how precious and exceptional his talent is but even more importantly that it is his family and all who believed in him and were cheering for him this past Sunday that really matter.
Kids in their day-to-day world gradually need to learn how to cope with the good, the bad and the ugly. Whether in school, on the sports field, on the stage or in the art gallery the benefits of participation out weigh the risks of failure. But I think we who work with kids also need to become a bit more real and use less sugar coating with our children. We need to stop the urge to make everything seamless and without bumps in the road. Someone has to ultimately win or lose, score higher on an exam or get the lead role. But it has seemed to me personally, when our own kids were faced with a real disappointment or failure is when their character and grit really skyrocketed. So let’s help them learn to gradually manage those adversities with sportsmanship and grace. We can model in our everyday lives how to cope with pitfalls and how to savor the successes. We can share stories like Tiger’s or many others that we know or experienced. We can listen when they hurt and help them see it will be okay.
I read an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend by Jennifer Breheny Wallace titled, “Teaching Girls To Be Great Competitors.” She shared how girls now are hearing more and more about “Girl Power” and that all careers are open to them. While at that same time they may still have struggles managing the emotions and sometimes stress of competition. Below is a link to the article:
Teaching Girls To Be Great Competitors
Cheers to healthy competition and bravo Tiger Woods! He never quit and I hope our kids were watching and learning. Back to my favorite hashtag – #bravenotperfect! Have a good week.
Laine