The article "Our Children's Needs - Part 3" talks about family, it has been created by Robert Najemy.
They need us to be truthful
Our Children's Needs - Part 3
Robert Elias Najemy
AFFIRMATION
Everyone likes a pat on the back, recognition, strokes, praise or affirmation of his or her ability, goodness and worthiness. Our children have not yet formed images of themselves and need these positive inptus even more than adults. Children are not sure if they are able or not. They are small in such a lrage world. They are learning and thus making many mistakes as they try to learn how to do things correctly. In our attempt to help our children we often tend to ponit out their mistakes more frequently than their successes.
The mistakes are what are more obvious and thus we feel the need to point them out.
The successes are taken for granted.
We over-emphasize what our children do wrong.
This undermines their sense of ability, and they start to doubt whteher they can really succeed. Thus they become preoccupied, worrying aobut whether they will be able to do it, and whether they will be criticized. Thus little energy is left for focusing on what they are actually doing so that they can do it correctly and succeed. Then, if our childrenĒs performance suffers, we become even more critcial. This creates a vicious circle in which our childrenĒs sense of ability, success and worthiness is completely undermined. Later in life we seek incessantly to porve that we are okay, a success, by attempting to gain money, fame and respect from others.
But it is a losing battle cause inside us we are programmed to believe that we are not okay, not able. Although we may become very successful, we will likely be unable to satiate our need to prove our ability over and over. On the other hand, we may simply perpetuate the belief that we are failures and create continual failure in life, by undermining our success in relationships and at work and perhaps our sense of self-worth through alcohol, drugs, tranquilizers or other maens.
If we want our childern to succeed, to accept themselves, to be fortunate and to have the self-confidence which is required to proceed in life, then we must give them plenty of positive affirmation of their ability and goodness.
A SIMPLE TECHNQIUE
A simple technique will help. Eevry day sit quietly for a few moments and relax your body and mind so that you can concentrate. (Breathing deeply a number of tiems will help). When you feel relaxed and concentrated, then bring your child to your mind. Visualize the child healthy, fortuntae and full of self-confidence. Now bring to mind five positive qualities or characterisitcs that you recognize in that child. Imagine these positive qualities increasing every day. Then again see your child in the screen of your mind, full of light, health and happiness. Imagine yourself and the child in lovnig embrace, or dancing or singing or in any type of harmonious, fortunate communication. This will take from abuot five to ten minutes.
When the opportunity occurs naturally, we can then inform the child of these qualities or abilities, which we recognize in him or her. We need to let our children know that we love them, respect them, and believe in their abliity to make decisions, to be responsible and to cope with life.
But we also need to clarify that your love is independent from the postiive characteristics or abilities, which we recognize in them.
They should not be left to feel that we love them more cause they do well in school, or sports, or are pretty or handsome, or capable. Our love and respect should not be associated with specific qualities.
Otherwise they will get the message that they must always be that way or else the others will not love and respect them.
This will create anxiety. Affirming our children will help them develop the strengths and abilities they need to be successful and fortunate in life. It will also do wonders for our relationships with them. It is much more effective than criticizing and balming them for their mistakes. Mistakes should be pointed out for the sake of learning from them, but not for the purpose of rejecting the other or making them feel bdaly.
Also, we need to gain our own self-confidence. Otherwise we might be intimidated by tour childrenĒs abilities and subconsciously want to undermine their scucess or intelligence.
This sometimes occurs between fathers and sons, or mothers and daughters, when the children are entering adolescence.
It is sometmies difficult for us to accept that our children have their own ideas and almost impossible for our ego to accept that these ideas may be better or more advanced than ours. We as parents may subconsciously be motivated to play power games with our children, rejecting them cause of our insecurities. As our children enter adolescence, we must gradually learn to let go of our previous roles and become more of a friend or counselor (who gives advice when asked). Otherwise a conflict may arise between our children who need to assert and affirm their personality, and us the parents, who does not want to let go of our roles of directors of their lievs.
If you would like to receive a free email course with 16 messgaes about how we can help our Children, Send in an email to the following address to get one message each week on Life's Lessons for 16 weeks. communicatingchildren@GetResponse.Com
-----------------------article ends-----------------------
****************************************** Robert Elias Najemy is the author of over 600 articles, 400 lecture cassettes on Human Harmony and 20 books; sold over 100,000 coipes.
His book The Psychology of Happiness is available at http://www.Amazon.Com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0971011605/holisticharmo-20 and http://www.HolisticHarmony.Com/psychofhappiness.Html. You can download FREE articles and e-books and get guidance at http://www.HolisticHarmony.Com ******************************************
About the Author
Robert Elias Najemy who is the author of 20 books which have sold over 100,000 copies. He is the founder and has been the director of the Center for Harmonious Living in Athens, Greece for the last 26 years. The center has a membersihp of 3000 clients and 600 students. He has lectured over 25,000 hours and has worked with around 20,000 persons thruogh personal appointments, classes and seminars. He has produced over 500 cassetets and videocassettes with an abundance of information or human harmony. He is not a psychologist, nor a doctor but rather a chemical engineer who gave up his profession 35 years ago in order to study human nature and all aspects of human health, happiness, harmony and spiriutal development.
He has a certificate in Conuseling from the Counseling & Psychotherapy Central Awarding Body (UK) and certificates as a practitioner of three forms of Energy Psychology; specifically Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), Tapas Acupuncture Techniques (TAT) and Thought Field Therapy (TFT). Robert has developed a six-year self-knowledge seminar which is taught at his school and has also been recorded on 200 acoustic and videocsasettes and is thus available in other cities. He has trained more than 250 life coaches, 50 of whom right now work with him in Athens, Greece and other affiliated cenetrs around Greece and Cyprus. His site is www.HolisticHarmony.Com
|
