After two long months of preparing for rehearsal try-outs for the role of the Scarecrow in the upcoming school play, The Wizard of Oz, my 14-year-old daughter learned her fate. She would not scamper down the yellow brick road alongside Dorothy in her dream role as the Scarecrow. Instead, she’d be part of the ensemble cast as one of the jitterbug dancers.
Several of her best friends landed lead roles, so I was nervous about how my daughter would react. I was pleasantly surprised when she announced her disappointment at not being chosen for her dream role but still expressed how much fun she thought the dance number would be. Phew!
Society has attached negative connotations to the term 'average.' But the idea that average is bad couldn’t be further from the truth.
As much as my daughter loves performing, her singing and acting talents aren’t cutting edge—they're average. What isn’t average is her outlook on life.
Society has attached negative connotations to the term “average.” But the idea that average is bad couldn’t be further from the truth. As parents, we want our children to reach for the moon and the stars, but what if “middle of the road” is where they're at and it suits them just fine?
If you don’t have a superstar in your midst, no worries. In my experience, being average is better than OK—it's great! There are many positives to being average. Let's take a look at what makes the average child a joy.
Average people are more grateful
Living in a state of gratitude can be one of the most important foundations for living a life of true joy. When we stop and appreciate the little things—sipping ice-cold milk with a cookie, getting tucked in with a warm blanket and a hug on a cold winter’s night, the ability to do a math problem easily even though reading literature can be a struggle—our kids learn the warmth of gratitude.
The goal is not to block out difficulties, but to approach those difficulties from a different perspective.
Living your life with gratitude means choosing to focus your time and attention on what you appreciate. The goal is not to block out difficulties, but to approach those difficulties from a different perspective. Appreciation softens us. It soothes our cluttered minds by connecting us with the ordinary things, great and small, that we might otherwise take for granted.
Sure, my daughter wanted to nail the role of the Scarecrow, but when she didn’t get it, she turned her disappointment into gratitude. What was most important to her was being a part of the...
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