Blog A book Along: What do I really want for my Children?

Chapter 3: I want my children to be risk takers.

I do want my children to take some risks. Dyer says you don't grow if you don't take risks. I believe this to be true because the times I have taken risks I have learned something or grown is some way. I understand what he means we have to excited and not fearful. It is a scary thing to change something or do something that takes us out of our comfort zone. I think you need to change the fear to excitement. Sort of putting the positive spin on it. After all fear and excitement cause the same bodily reaction..heartrate increases, you sweat, etc....I think it is all in how you use that reaction. Everytime I get fearful I try to turn that into excitement rather than be paralzyed by the fear. The quote" The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" by FDR. I think fear can be the monster under the bed that we tend to not want to deal with but once we do everything is so much better.

The best thing that I got out of this chapter was about Do your best...to be changed to just Do it. I have one child that is a risk taker and one that isn't. I have used everything in my power to get the non risk taker to takes the risk of being wrong which is his biggest fear. Sometimes he does take the risks and I try to be there to let him know that that was a good job to just take the risk but I know he just thinks it is stupid to do things that you fear. Because it is uncomfortable but it is way a to enlarge your world. So I think I will drop the "your best" part and just say "DO"! Because best is very subjective to everyone at different times.

This is a very interesting book in that it is helping me look at my parenting in a different way and it is also verifying to me that I am doing some good things too.