Great expectations

Is it just ME, or do you, too, wonder why some among us are so driven and others are, well, not?

Former US First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson (President Lyndon B. Johnson, 1963 - 1969) wrote that what is expected of children is likely what will be achieved by those children.  Wow!

As we were all children ‘once upon a time’, it is interesting to glance in the rearview mirror and visit times in our own lives when what was expected of us was all, or everything, we were willing to aspire to.

Wishing I knew then what I know – or don’t know – now, raises my antenna a bit; what about yours?

I think of children accessed by standard exams or, perhaps, more subjectively, by educators or coaches who come in to their lives at impressionable, early stages.  We hear of children defined as a result of comparison to other children, some medicated, some given less attention than others because they are deemed less capable.  Less is expected of them.  How easy for such a label to become permanently attached - and worn on the outside. 

Has anyone never heard of a late-bloomer?  Have we not heard of professional athletes who were cut from high school teams only to become college superstars. It happens!

There are many lessons Lady Bird’s opinion offers…

The obvious one is to never give up on a child.  The challenge is to continue to support, motivate, validate and honor the individuality of who they are; not who others think they are not or could never be. In what it is that distinguishes them from the “average” or “normal” child is exactly what could be their greatest gift - a gift the world needs.

Is it fair to say that once pigeonholed there is no way out?  No, I do not think so.

At every given moment and with each breath it is within each of us to decide to change.  There is within the capacity of the human spirit such strength and energy to reach beyond what we thought was possible yesterday.

Another great quote, and I am paraphrasing, is that another person’s opinion of you is none of your business.  I love that!

Here’s where I am going…reach out to someone and encourage that person to be everything that is possible within his/her realm of being…but don’t wait for someone to play that role in your life…just believe in yourself, more than anyone else ever has, and know that if you want it badly enough and for all the right reasons, it is possible; you can do it.

Can you even begin to imagine the mentor, the role model, the parent you could be to a child who hasn’t reached that moment in his/her own life yet?  Be that gift to a child.

To settle into a life of mediocrity or complacency because others expected and imagined that’s all you could ever do, is fulfilling their belief – not yours.  You get to decide for yourself and it is never too late to change.

So, IS it just me, or are you, too, dusting off dreams that others told you were beyond your ability to make come true and deciding you are worthy, you are capable and everything is possible?

Have great expectations.