Tips for Graduating Seniors and Their Parents
One of the many casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic has been (or will be) the loss of certain rites of passage for the high school class of 2020. In no specific order, most have missed out on the opportunity to compete in their senior year. of spring. sports, your proms, your commencement ceremony, senior joke and/or skip days, proms or proms, and in some cases when students do not have access to Wi-Fi or computers in their homes, the end of their school year.
While I can’t imagine anyone wanting these circumstances to happen to a child, the fact is that we have no control over the situation. I learned a long time ago that the best way to deal with things is to let go of the things that are beyond my control and put all my energy into the things that I do have control over. In the words of legendary basketball coach and very wise human being, John Wooden: “Don’t let what you can’t do get in the way of what you can do.”
If parents talk to each other about how awful things are, it doesn’t help anyone and actually hurts their children. When parents express how bad they feel that their child is “missing” the graduation ceremony or prom, it actually makes their children more anxious than they probably already are and makes them feel worse, not better.
These things are not going to happen, so I think it’s best to accept that fact as soon as possible and start looking for opportunities in the situation. No circumstance, no matter how bad or tragic it may seem at the time, is without opportunity within it.
High school seniors, in general, are known to feel anxious about all the big changes coming their way, without the added stress of a pandemic and all the uncertainty that comes with it. What they need right now is reassurance from their parents that things will work out eventually.
When they see that their parents are upset or scared, they feel more scared. There is added stress in many homes for parents, many of whom find themselves suddenly unemployed, but as adults in the home, it’s important to protect your children from those added worries right now. If they see that you are fearing your future, that will probably make them more anxious and fearful for theirs.
Most kids I’ve talked to are more upset about not being able to hang out with their friends than they are about missing out on their major rites of passage. Some say their parents are more bummed out by all they’re missing out on (not being able to post photos of events they’re missing on social media) than they are because their child is missing out on events.
Many of life’s greatest triumphs come during difficult times. Companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Airbnb were born in horrible economic downturns. Nelson Mandela unjustly spent 27 years in prison and could easily have spent those years feeling sorry for himself. Instead, he used that time to become one of the most revered leaders of all time and managed to eliminate apartheid in his country.
If you live in the present and take advantage of what each day has to offer, you may be surprised to find yourself better off than you were before the pandemic struck.
Adversity is a fact of life for almost everyone. Some people let adversity destroy them, and others see it as a gift and experience growth. The only difference is which way you CHOOSE to look at it.
As Wayne Dyer says, “There’s no point worrying about things you have no control over because there’s nothing you can do about it, and why worry about things you do control? The activity of worrying keeps you immobilized.”
You can follow Sam on Twitter @SuperTaoInc
POSTED ON THE SIDE OF MIND BLOG