A week ago, my daughter said, "Mom, I don't think I'm very athletic."
I've observed her in various sports, and she is just like me: two left feet. But even knowing it, my first instinct (本能) was to snow her with some1"Oh, you're actually good at sports!"
I held back, however, and after thinking twice, I told her the2: "No, you're kind of not."
And I could see it hurt a bit. So I3: "Dear, everyone may have a natural talent for something. Like you and4: You're a 5th grader and read Charles Dickens. But we also have things we are not5. If we want to reach a satisfactory level at those things, we have to6twice the effort and if we want to7we need to try even harder. "
She was nodding. She totally8it. Why? Because it's the truth. Sometimes I wonder why we run around telling our kids some rubbish that don't even9when they can actually accept the truth. Besides, when they realize we are lying, we10our credibility.
I want my kids to have a11understanding of themselves so they won't be12when things get tough. They can be Olympians, but nobody is going to band it to them and 13 may work against them. They will understand that many things14a nearly huge amount of WORK. They can't just expect something to happen. They15it happen.
