A little adversity goes a long way...

I don’t think I’m remarkably different from other parents in the way I feel about my children: I love them unconditionally, they are my absolute priority in life, and I would do anything for them. However, where I depart from the norm though is the way I think about them. As an example of this, after due consideration, I have decided that I don’t want to protect them from harm. Just the fatal stuff.

Why would that be? I believe that, in the same way that inoculations challenge their immune system and make it resilient to disease, bite-sized chunks of adversity will make my children stronger, more self-reliant and more resilient to life’s challenges. Consequently, I encourage them to try new things, and foster a culture of accepting failure as an inherent part of the learning process. Because objectively, it’s no big deal. Simply a necessary step-stone on the path to success.

And yes, I do eat my own dog food: I have a life-time’s worth of failure to reflect upon, and it’s done my outlook no harm at all. ;)