When our second daughter was 12, we rented an RV and toured around Alberta, Canada. Family vacations were not her favourite at the time. Famously, at one point she sneered at us with derision and said, “YOU want ME to go hiking in the Rockies??!”
Today, at 22, she is in Banff, Alberta and sent us the following text: “I am having so much fun. How did I not like this before?”
No one wants to be held to the opinions of their 12-year-old self.
Matt Church encouraged us recently to explore our “COVID origin story.” Might there be a new narrative developing that we need to embrace?
It seems counterintuitive to call for more change, as we’ve been doing nothing if not adapting and pivoting (sigh) constantly in recent months. But what I mean is slightly different. Is there a new story or identity that you, or someone close to you, needs to be allowed to embody at this time? Can you be someone who believes it into existence rather than blocking its emergence? When we’re craving the familiar, we might be less inclined to welcome change, in ourselves or others.
Today I ate oatmeal for breakfast. I have always hated oatmeal. Or so I thought, until recently.
What if you thought of yourself as an oatmeal lover? Or your daughter as a hiker? Your willingness to change your narrative might be just the encouragement someone else needs to change theirs.