Page 53 - 4-22-17 RP FINAL Flipbook pdf

THE POWER OF TAKING THE PLUNGE

school, she could run faster than every boy in
her class. She was pretty cocky about it too until
she reached third grade. At one of her recesses,
she raced a bunch of boys on the school's track
and a boy beat her. She got so disappointed that

she ended up quitting her running career (so to
speak). Her mother and I would try to
encourage her to no avail. I believe that was the
first time she experienced defeat, and she'll
admit today at age 35, that she was a very sore
loser.

Do you think that if her mother and I forced
her to continue it would have done any good?
I think you know the answer to that. The goal
had to be hers and hers alone. She had to own
it. I have witnessed parents forcing their
children into things only to discover their

resentment. I tried that with my son Chris on
several worthy objectives, and even after he
became an adult, he would remind me of my
Marine Corps Drill Instructor tactics. The
funny thing is that I don’t remember a lot of the
details, and I’ve tried to convince him that he as

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