Discovering your key to happiness

In the past, I’ve discussed the importance of failure and learning to find the gift in the struggles of teenage-dom. I think a huge reason this is so hard for many parents is because parents are biologically wired to make their child’s life better than their own—to give them more opportunity, more success, and ideally more happiness. So of course, many parents want their children to get A's, go to an amazing college, and not have to deal with the anxiety and pain that comes with being a teenager. 

But when your child focuses on perfection, being the best, and outside achievements to determine their self-worth, it can derail their ability to create a strong, unwavering sense of self. 

Here is an exercise for when you start getting worried about their grades, friendships, peer pressure, etc. You can do this mentally or write out your answers.

1. Ask yourself, "What is it that I am worried about this school year?" Is it that they’ll fall behind in school? That they’ll prioritize their social life over grades?
2. Now ask yourself, "What is it that you want for them?" To get or keep their good grades? To have a best friend whom they can trust?
3. Now ask, "If they had that (a great best friend, good grades, etc.), thenwhat would happen?" They’d be able to get into a good college? They would be less stressed?
4. Ask again, "If they had that, then what would happen?" They’d be successful or get a good job? They’d be more at ease?
5. Keep asking yourself, "Then what would happen?" until you feel like you are at the core of what you want for them—you might even feel a gut feeling of relief or grounding associated with it. Hint: It will probably be something like “Then they’d be happy.”

Finding the core desire of what you wish for them is important—whether that be peace, happiness, love, etc.—in order to answer crucial questions. Is striving to get A’s making them happy or stressing them out? Is being on the baseball team making them at peace or is something they dread every week?

You then get to ask yourself: How can I best support them in being happy, feeling loved, or being at peace? And it may be different from what you originally wanted for them because here’s the thing: Money, achievements, and straight A's don’t often make someone happy. We’ve all already been told countless times that this is a myth, yet many of us still believe it. Heck, I have to check myself on this all the time! Happiness most often stems from compassion, gratitude, acceptance, and connection.

In his Time magazine article "In Praise of the Ordinary Child," Jeffrey Kluger writes, “But we cheat ourselves, and, worse, we cheat our kids, if we view life as a single straight-line race in which one one-hundredth of the competitors finish in the money and everyone else loses. We will all be better off if we recognize that there are a great many races of varying lengths and outcomes. The challenge for parents is to help their children find the one that’s right for them.”

As always, if you have any questions, thoughts, or insights, I’d love to hear!

Here’s to your own happiness,
Shandra