Parenthood and the adversity paradox

Everyone grows up with a certain amount of adversity. You don’t experience just the good times, but also the bad and difficult times. So you grow up with a certain amount of emotional bacteria that protect you from these challenges.

You learn how to survive, and to overcome heavy obstacles. Because unfortunately life is sometimes filled with chaos, hate, and brutality. But you learn how to thrive and get stronger.

Then the moment comes you become a parent. And you realize you don’t want your children to go through the same difficulties and disappointments you faced. So you set up a more sanitary environment for your children to grow up in. But by taking away that adversity, you take away the potential growth that comes from these experiences. Your kids need to build their strength and need to develop survival skills on their own.

So be careful with being a good parent and creating an environment that doesn’t have enough of these bacteria in it for your child to develop and learn from adversity. Because your child might know a lot about love and happiness, they might not be ready when their heart is broken or become a victim.

It’s not a bad thing to protect your child or to give them a better life than your own. You want to spare them the things you suffered and present them the virtues we take the greatest pride in. But it’s not a good thing either, as adversity is inevitable. So ask yourself how you will handle it when it happens. As sometimes our parental ambitions may exclude each other.

#children #family #lifehack #parenthood #parenting #tips #wellbeing

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