You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore. - William Faulkner
So we shall let the reader answer this question for himself: who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S. Thompson
Do you want me to tell you something really subversive? Love is everything it's cracked up to be. That's why people are so cynical about it. It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don't risk anything, you risk even more. - Erica Jong, Fear of Flying
Risk. I have been thinking a lot about risk recently. Life must have its measure of risk to be lived fully. Children are in a constant state of risk-taking as they learn and grow. Some may be more cautious perhaps, while others more naturally leap into the unknown; but all children take profound risks as they struggle to reach new heights of understanding, knowledge, skills, and awareness. Growing-up is not an easy task, that’s for sure. Just think for a moment what it might feel like for our children being thrust into their new world at ISU, with so many new experiences and challenges, new cultures and new languages, as well as new faces. Think of how brave they must be to face each day. Imagine for a moment yourselves being dropped into a completely new place, maybe with a completely new language being spoken, new rules, new faces, new expectations—how might you feel? And you are all lucky enough to have the gift of many years of experience, abilities and skills, and yet I can guess that even as grown-ups we may cry and feel utterly exhausted coming home from a day of such utter “newness”. How impressive our children are for navigating this vastly, profoundly new world with such strength and grace. Are you not astonished and simply in awe at what brave risk-takers your children are?
But here’s a small irony… As we leave the world of children, and begin navigating our way through the vast and complicated world of adults, we also face what is perhaps the greatest risk of all: the risk of becoming too comfortable. The wonder in the eyes of a child, in the eyes of our children, only comes through the struggle of leaps into the unknown, through the challenge of opening our hearts and minds to the magic of new experiences. The vibrancy, the richness and color of our world must be constantly renewed to stoke the fires of life within us. For children this is inescapable because so much of what they face each day is new. But for you and I, for us grown-ups, we must make a more conscious effort to take risks and leap into the unknown. It is both humbling and empowering at the very same moment, to recognize and take into one’s heart the vast and immeasurable unknown that exists in the Universe around us all the time.
As Erica Jong said, “If you don't risk anything, you risk even more.” I might even refashion this to say, if you don’t risk anything, you risk everything. So, this we can learn from our children: take risks! We must never stop taking long, luscious, laughing leaps into the unknown, come what may, come what might. It is this quirky, odd, colorful, taste of newness that will keep us young, and ensure the wonder of life lives on in our hearts. And who knows, you just may find yourselves connecting with your children in a whole new way…
.jpg)
#ISUParentBlogs #ISUParentJourney
