I believe in you and I trust your strategy
Giving everyone the evil eye
A short while ago I had a pretty intense eye infection.
My eye was red, watering
and generally pretty ugly.
Interacting with people was interesting because
they would immediately look at my eye
and have some sort of intense reaction.
I received similar reactions from almost everyone
Some people would recoil at the sight of my eye
before they were able to get their more
polite self under control.
Some people would immediately offer me
sympathy to try and make me feel better.
Many people offered me suggestions on
how to treat it.
This herb or that cream
or these eye drops or the other tea.
Of course I didn’t mind any of this because
I realized it was quite a shocking sight.
I also knew that everyone reacting to me
was doing so because they cared and
they wanted to see me feel better.
And then I met my new friend Cesar
We were both attending the same dance performance
and during the intermission I approached him to say hi.
He immediately noticed my eye
and asked me if I was ok.
I told him what was going on and then
prepared myself to receive the same kind of
reaction that I was so used to.
An unexpected reaction
Instead he surprised me.
He looked into my eyes
and said with deep confidence:
‘I believe in you and I trust your strategy.”
Woah…
He didn’t offer me any suggestions.
He didn’t offer me any sympathy.
My mind froze for a moment as I attempted
to digest what he had just said.
I was deeply moved by this.
It instantly touched my heart.
Feeling this man trusting me
was an amazing experience.
We don’t receive deep trust and confidence from people very often
I realize it’s not something that I experience very often.
In fact I’m guessing that most of us don’t
experience that very often.
It was a beautiful moment that has stayed with me ever since.
Can we offer each other this kind of support?
I’m sharing it with you because I think it is
a wonderful sentiment for us to consistently
share with each other.
Can we make our children know that we believe in them?
I also think is that this is one of
the most important messages
that we can give to our children.
I believe in you and I trust your strategy.
Wow!
Imagine if that kind of trust was offered to you
consistently when you were a child.
Imagine if that is what you grew up believing about yourself.
Controlling their choices
So often we’re either telling kids what to do
or trying to rescue them from their problems,
but very rarely do we give them the simple message
that we believe in their ability to sort through
whatever challenges they are presented with.
Kids do need our support and guidance
I an not talking about abandoning kids
when they need us or leaving them to
suffer unnecessarily because we’re trying to
make them be tough.
There is a balance required of course.
Our kids need to know that we trust them
and they also need to know that we’re there for them
when they really need our support.
Do it my way because I know better
There are times when we can see that
the strategies our children choose for certain situations
are perhaps less than optimal.
This is the hardest time to offer them this simple message
that we trust them and believe in them
because we can see so clearly a better way.
This is when it really counts
In some ways this is the most important time
for us to reinforce our belief in
their Problem-solving abilities.
This way our kids will grow up with double confidence
They will have the confidence that
we are always there for them when they need us
and they will also have the confidence that
they can face any challenge that comes their way.
I believe in you and I trust your strategy.
What a wonderful message.
Thank You Cesar.
