This Gift! If I could wave a magic wand, I would give every child this gift. Here’s what Steven Vannoy shares about self-esteem in his book, “The 10 Greatest Gifts I Gave My Children,” When you have high (I’m going to substitute the word “healthy” here) self-esteem you are nearly invincible. No matter what happens, you still know that you are a good and capable person, that you can do what you need to do again and even better. You have a rich supply of inner strength. You approach every moment, every event, every interaction with an attitude of openness instead of fear, giving instead of taking, acknowledging your strengths rather than your weaknesses. You see abundance and opportunity instead of shortage and trouble.”
Having a healthy self-esteem helps us to look at life’s bumps as opportunities. Imagine talking with your little ones about seeing something that’s not going well as a chance to make things better instead of viewing it as a problem. Not to be Pollyannish here but teaching children to think “about finding solutions rather than focusing on the problem” helps them to be more optimistic and better set up to find a solution or, at the very least, improve things.
Remember the book “The Little Engine That Could” by Watty Piper? This book is about a little blue engine that helped a broken train, and its’ cars filled with goodies for children, climb up a mountain. The little engine worked hard pulling the broken train but wasn’t sure if she could make it up the mountain. She kept telling herself the whole way, “I think I can, I think I can.” The little blue engine kept trying and trying, and slowly, they all made it to the top of the mountain! This delightful children’s book was written in the 1930s to teach children about optimism and hard work. This story is also a beautiful example of positive self-talk, not giving up, helping others, and being kind.
