“Good parents give their children Roots and Wings. Roots to know where home is, Wings to fly away and exercise what's been taught them.” ~ Dr. Jonas Salk
I constantly say that parenting isn’t for the faint hearted. This week Rick and I had two opportunities with regards to Shaila. The first was a decision to let her drive to Forest City or not. I know it doesn’t sound like a big decision but any of you that have ever experienced a new driver in the winter understand why it was even a discussion. We agreed that the weather was fine and that she needs these opportunities to fly on her own so we let her go. The second had to do with something she wanted to do that I didn’t necessarily agree with and wouldn’t have been my decision for her. So my dilemma was to either force her to do it my way or let her make her own decision. Using the same logic that she needs the opportunities to make mistakes on her own; I allowed her to make her own decision. Shaila and I had a great discussion about why I didn’t necessarily agree but that ultimately I would leave it up to her to make the decision. I hope and pray that I am raising her to be a strong, independent woman. This may come back to bite me! So, my lesson from this week was even though it wasn’t my way didn’t make it wrong.
If we were able to apply this to our work life think how much more effective our teams could be. I know that I too was raised to be strong and independent and “occasionally” believe that my ideas are the best. I am working on personal growth to be more open to looking at things from all angles. It is amazing how many more possibilities there are when you simply open yourself up to the potential in every situation. This includes the potential in others as well as the potential in situations. My leaders will tell you that I often say there are a million solutions to every problem. This is very true; you just have to be open to looking at the problems in new ways. So this week I challenge you to try to look at a problem you have in a completely different way. If you need help getting started ask a friend for some ideas to get you going. You may be surprised to find many solutions where you didn’t see any in the past. May you use your roots to guide you in your daily life and may you use your wings to help you rise to new undiscovered potential.
“Change your opinions, keep to your principles; change your leaves, keep intact your roots.” ~ Victor Hugo
