This afternoon I sat outside with my older son. He ate potato chips while I tried to think of the right things to say. He’s been bummed out about something at school and in my infinite wisdom I had decided that he just needed a better plan.
As I scripted the dialogue for him, all the way down to a meaningful pause, I noticed that he’d started to tear up a little bit.
“I know bud,” I said. “This is a bummer, but we’ll figure it out.”
He looked up and shook his head. “No Daddy,” he said. “That’s not it. I’m upset because you don’t think I can handle this myself.”
Like a rocket into the brain. Of course.
So many times in life we think that we need a better plan. We read it, we hear it; we may even be told this by well-meaning nincompoops like yours truly.
But maybe we don’t need a better plan. Maybe we just need to trust ourselves.
Whatever it is, you can probably handle it. Start now.
