Guest Blogger Ms. Pink!

I am a strong believer that you create your own destiny.  Some are born more privileged than others, but we all are presented with opportunities and choices, and of course also some challenges throughout our lives. It is how you respond to the opportunities, and how you choose to handle the challenges that in the end, will determine where you will end up in life.

As we grow older, and hopefully also grow up, we tend to narrow our visions of our future.  The greatness we saw as children has somehow disappeared from the mirror image, and we see limitations that were never there before.  Why do we stop believing in our own greatness?

I took my kids to the photographer not long ago, and as we were leaving the house, my daughter looked at herself in the mirror and said, “I am just so beautiful!” before she went on to talk about what a great pop-star she will be, and how great she will do in commercials and eventually in a movie.  She is ready for stardom, and so is her brother.  I love to see that confidence!  Because I know, that did not come for free.

Unlike most of today’s parents, I don’t praise them for everything they do, unless I think it is truly worth praise. If they bring home a B on school work, I ask what they need to work on to bring that up to an A. If they’re not getting much play time in soccer, we figure out what they need to work on to better their game.  If they want to enter in a talent show, I tell them to put together an act and audition for me, because I am not signing a permission slip for them to get on stage and make a fool of themselves. I don’t do this to be cruel.  I want them to live up to their potential, and to know that they can excel at anything they want to, but that nothing comes for free.  Any goal can be reached if they just work hard enough and dedicate themselves to it.  On the other hand, if their goals are just mediocre, I push a little to expand those.  The last thing I want to see them do is sell themselves short and settle.  My motto is “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll still be among the stars. “

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=1041

So if you remember one thing from this, let it be to teach your children to dream big.  But please also remember to never stop dreaming yourself. Only you can set limits for your success! George Bernard Shaw said it best: “You see things and you say “Why?” But I dream of things that never were; and I say “Why not?”

Thank you to Åsa for letting me be a guest blogger.  You can find me at: http://livelovebehappywithmspink.blogspot.com/