This is a picture of my niece. One of my favorite memories of her goes back to when she was maybe 5 or 6. I wanted to get in some exercise, so I took her to the trails for a hike, but 1st graders don’t LOVE to jog.
PARENTING HACK: Play a game with the kids. Pretend someone is chasing you and you’re running from them. They love it. YOU get in your interval training.
So, there we were, running through the woods playing pretend. Breathless and laughing, we’re walking and catching our breath. Here’s how it went down:
Kenz: Aunt, if someone was really chasing us, we’d have to keep running.
Me: Hmm.
A few minutes later…
Kenz: But, if someone was really chasing us, we wouldn’t run, would we?
Me: No kid. We wouldn’t run.
Kenz: We’d fight.
Me: Yeah. We stand and fight.
Submission is simply not in us. It’s not even a choice, really. Even at that young age, the idea of RUNNING didn’t sit well with her. It didn’t feel right.
Too often, we give up and give in too soon.
I want you to be up to something WORTH fighting for.
I want your goals to COMPEL you to rise up and be seen.
I want you do FULLY occupy your greatest potential, JUST BECAUSE you can… and also, these younger girls are watching us.
Will we shirk? will we hide? Will we give up? Will we betray ourselves to fit in? Will we count ourselves out without even putting up a fight? Will we enter the arena… or will we keep watching from the outside?
What young girls or women are watching you? What message are you sending?
