See Your Children Through Their Eyes

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Our perception of reality is based on our experiences. One needs to be able to see your children through their eyes to understand who they truly are.

The way we see our children is based on our experiences in our life. The way we see them is not the way they see themselves.

Infinite Versions of You

I want to purpose an idea for you to ponder.

It is the idea that there are an infinite number of versions of yourself.

The way we exist, to ourselves, really only exists in our own minds. The way we are perceived by others is different than how we see ourselves and how other people see us. A different version of us exists within the minds of every single person we have ever interacted with.

See Your Children Through Their Eyes

Before we react to what our children do, we should look inside ourselves and understand where that reaction is coming from.

When our children learn to cross the monkey bars, we can often feel fear or nervousness. This feeling is because of an experience we had and it is bringing back memories. Perhaps you fell off the monkey bars as a child and hurt yourself. This could cause you some anxiety while watching your children learn to master this skill.

But step back and see your children through their eyes.

How are they feeling at that moment? Are they excited and brave? Are they feeling confident in their abilities?

By reacting instead of responding or just letting them be, we are altering their perception of reality and changing who they are.

If we react from fear, tell them to be careful with fear in our tone, then all of a sudden that brave and empowered child is suddenly nervous. Their hands begin to sweat and they no longer feel a secure grip on the bar. These changes were because our reaction changed their reality.

If we had remained calm and embraced the courage that they had, their experience could have been very different. They would have remained the brave and empowered child.

In that moment, reality shifted and we created a new version of them.

Our reality is constantly shifting and evolving.

My goal as a parent is to try and let my child guide their reality and not let my version of who they are shape their future.