Last week, I finally got a task at the bottom of my to do list at home; sorting out the piles and piles of young children’s books that were still taking pride of place on the bookshelf and yet has been untouched for such a long time. I found myself thumbing through beautifully illustrated fairy tales of yesteryear and wondering if I was a fairy godmother and able to bestow each child, with three gifts what would they be? I could just imagine myself in a flowing glittery costume with a wand in my hand….
Anyway, back to the three gifts, what could I give that would make the biggest difference?
After much “parent like” thinking toying with gifts of love, and health and happiness, I’m going to take these as givens. The fairy before me has bestowed those so this child already has these, but what gifts would travel with them through the adventure that we call life, maybe even come in handy.
So I have chosen the three B’s (no not the three bears….that’s a different story for a different blog!); Breath, Belief and Brain.
The first gift, the power of breath is to be used in all those moments when we become overwhelmed by what is in front of us. Taking time, to be stiller, to breathe slowly and taste our existence. This slowing down and focus on our inner self is indeed a powerful gift that will give our children an inner strength. Although we take breathes each day, we don’t always understand the power of our breath to balance us and to give us new perspectives. We should teach our children how to harness the power of their breath, so that when they face struggle and challenge they meet it with greater resilience.
The second gift is the power of belief: Self- belief and the belief in others. Henry Ford summed it up when he said, “whether you think you can, or can’t, you’re right”
What we believe is the foundation for who we are, what we can do, and how we go about doing something. Teaching our children, that what they think and feel affects how they act gives them some choices about holding onto the positive beliefs and letting go of those that hold them back. They develop a self confidence that allow them to travel further.
Believing in yourself is important but so is believing in others; believing that others, no matter how different, can enrich your life allows you to grow stronger in the comfort of community. Imagine if all our children believed, “I’m ok, and so are you”.
Any my third and final gift is that of Brain. Let our children be awed by the enormous potential we all have inside us, let them understand it and work with it. When we teach children about how amazing their brain is, they understand the previous two gifts in a new way and use them to greater affect. They seek challenges, rise to greater heights than we expect and become independent learners and leaders that think for themselves and act for others.
Those are my gifts that as a parent and educationalist I would like to bestow to every child. What three gifts would you give?