Thought: Striving for Excellence and the T&T Approach

My younger brother and I had a really interesting talk on ambition last night. I wanted to make sure that he was enjoying life in the moment, but yet still had goals in mind for where he should be headed. During our conversation, I realized that one of the coolest things my parents nurtured in both of my siblings is always striving for excellence.

Although my brother comes off as being shy and quiet, last night he really opened up and let me realize that he has that drive inside of him that I know makes a difference during challenging times in life.

I'm not a parent (and that's a good thing) but I imagine that the scariest feeling for parents must be right when they realize that they can't always be there for their child. This is when parents get to a fork in the road. Unfortunately, for a lot of my friends and relatives their parents start getting very strict at this point. They start being very controlling and start intruding in the child's life more and more. It seems the parents think that if they can do just enough then they will protect their child from whatever ill comes their way.

I'm thankful that my parents took the opposite road. I have since dubbed it the T&T approach. For as long as I can remember, my parents have always taught me. Usually by example, my parents taught me what is right and wrong and the importance of ethics.

Then there came a huge point in life when my parents realized they couldn't be in my physical presence 24 hours a day. And if they would've restricted my freedom and become a bit more controlling, they would've been able to keep their eye on me, but they would be depriving me of a big opportunity. That opportunity was my trip to London during the 1996 winter holidays. There was enough pressure on my parents from the powers that be to not let me go.

But this is where my parents clearly shifted into the second "T" of the T&T approach. They trusted me. They trusted me to go to London and use what they had taught me. Beginning of trusting does not signal the end of teaching--the confidence my parents showed in me taught me so many more lessons than I think even my parents realize.

Happy Thanksgiving.