Before I start this post about Flexibility, I want you to know that I'm getting this information from my little brother's teacher who wanted us to try it with my brother. There're a few packets about responsibility, conflict resolution, and self-control, but today's post is about flexibility. This helps children, but I believe it may help adults as well... We all forget some important facts about life sometimes, and remembering a few may help us in many ways.
I hope you find the information below interesting, and if you have children of your own, maybe talk about it with them. I'm sure your kid would be delighted to learn an adult word.
FLEXIBILITY
Helping our children "go with the flow"
What is it?
"And the most successful people are those who accept, and adapt to, constant change. This ability requires a degree of flexibility and humility most people can't manage." - Paul Lutus
Why is it important?
There's a saying that "the only constant in life is change," and this saying could not be any truer. The ability to view change as an opportunity to grow and progress is an important life skill. As an adult, embracing change can open up new workplace opportunities, as those employees who "go with the flow" are often highly valued by employers.
What it looks like
- is able to stay calm when plans change
- finds the "silver lining" in change
- adapts to new situations
- abandons a strategy that isn't working and tries something different
* MODEL IT
Your child is a little barometer of the atmosphere around them. If you are rigid and inflexible, your child is more likely to be that way, too. Make an effort to embrace change in front of your child. Take it a step further by verbalizing your thought process. You could say something like, "I'm really disappointed that my hair stylist canceled my appointment tonight, but she rescheduled for next week, and now we have time to play a board game!"
*GIVE THEM A HEADS UP
If you tiptoe around your child when something changes, waiting until the last possible second to tell him, chances are that he will be upset. Instead, state the change in a matter -of-fact tone and give them options for what to do instead. Say something like, "We can't go to the toy store today because we need to pick your sister up from soccer practice. We can be flexible."
* REMIND THEM THAT THEY HAVE CONTROL
Changes can make children feel like they have very little control over the things that happens to them. It is important to help them remember that no matter what happens, they have control over one thing- the way that they react to changes. Remind them that they are always in control over their thoughts and actions.
*BUT DON'T GIVE UP
It's important to be flexible, yes, but also to be stubborn- how is this possible? We want our children to be flexible when plans, but we don't want them to be so flexible that they have no direction or drive in their lives. Help your children set goals and insist that they be stubborn and focused on achieving these goals, but flexible with the strategies they use to get there.
Flexible might be a term, an adult term, but let's be honest, how many adults are flexible enough to socially be fine next to each other, to work with each other? Accepting other's ideas, thoughts, believes is complex, but should we just listen to our ideas instead of everyone else's? Should we just get lost in our own world, fail at accomplishing goals, because we are too stubborn enough to not want anyone's help or ideas?
I'm sure if we were all a little more flexible, we would all live in a better world!
"Unlike most fine writers, he wasn't in love with his own words." - Douglas Brinkley
~Bella
*GIVE THEM A HEADS UP
If you tiptoe around your child when something changes, waiting until the last possible second to tell him, chances are that he will be upset. Instead, state the change in a matter -of-fact tone and give them options for what to do instead. Say something like, "We can't go to the toy store today because we need to pick your sister up from soccer practice. We can be flexible."
* REMIND THEM THAT THEY HAVE CONTROL
Changes can make children feel like they have very little control over the things that happens to them. It is important to help them remember that no matter what happens, they have control over one thing- the way that they react to changes. Remind them that they are always in control over their thoughts and actions.
*BUT DON'T GIVE UP
It's important to be flexible, yes, but also to be stubborn- how is this possible? We want our children to be flexible when plans, but we don't want them to be so flexible that they have no direction or drive in their lives. Help your children set goals and insist that they be stubborn and focused on achieving these goals, but flexible with the strategies they use to get there.
Flexible might be a term, an adult term, but let's be honest, how many adults are flexible enough to socially be fine next to each other, to work with each other? Accepting other's ideas, thoughts, believes is complex, but should we just listen to our ideas instead of everyone else's? Should we just get lost in our own world, fail at accomplishing goals, because we are too stubborn enough to not want anyone's help or ideas?
I'm sure if we were all a little more flexible, we would all live in a better world!
"Unlike most fine writers, he wasn't in love with his own words." - Douglas Brinkley
~Bella
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