If you have, or have had kids, you’re likely all too familiar with the word, “NO!” Last night upon leaving my daughters bedroom after a bedtime story, my energetic four and a half year old, not wanting to go to bed herself, asked me in a frustrated but genuinely curious tone, “Why do adults get to do whatever they want?” Excited at the golden opportunity presented before me to teach her one of life’s great lessons, I took a moment to think before responding, “Well, hopefully adults have developed the self discipline to do what they’re supposed to do, even when its not what they want to do, and to refrain from doing what they want to do, when it’s something they shouldn’t. It’s our job as adults to guide our kids in the right direction until you have the self discipline to make the right decisions for yourself” Recognizing the disappointed look that her Socratic method had not worked on me, I thought it best to follow up with an example: “If I left you in a room by yourself with a TV, a puzzle, water, a milk shake, pizza and broccoli and told you to do whatever you want, you’d surely leave the TV off, throw away the milk shake, toss the pizza, drink the water, eat the broccoli and put together the puzzle, right?” A Grinch-like grin expanded ear to ear on her chubby face like an inflating balloon as she laughed, “Nooooooo.” It was clear she understood. “Why can’t we just do what we want though?” Demi retorted persistently. “Well, you can. And in fact most people do. But they’re not very happy in their heart. Doing what you want, if its not what you should be doing, makes you happy only for a short amount of time. And then not so happy after. But doing what you’re supposed to do (like eating healthy, training, homework, and brushing your teeth) before doing what you want to do (like watching tv), makes you happy forever. And I want you to be happy forever!” The point is that we believe self discipline is the path to happiness. This means sacrificing short term gratification for long term satisfaction. You can not be truly happy unless you’re happy with yourself. You can not be happy with yourself if you do not sacrifice what you want in the moment for what will make you stronger and smarter in the long run. The earlier we can drive this principle home with our kids, the more likely they are to be truly happy as adults.
– Coach Jordan
Owner/Program Director