JollyLife Coaching

Choice and Consequences

Thanks Kate for your comment on last week's post. So if you were talking to year 10 kids you would want them to know that out of the scarey comes the good, that we have to experience to learn and move forward and our mind is a powerful thing also that we are our life's pilots. All fantastic things for them. to know.

I cast my mind back to when I was in year 10 and I can remember feeling life was coming up too fast. I am not sure what I thought about life up till then, guess as most kids it was just fun and not to be taken too seriously.  I spent most of my spare time playing sport and wasn't really interested in much else. Then all of a sudden getting a full-time job was put before me. Tertiary studies weren't considered important in my family. Working and getting paid were the go.

It seems that year 10 seems to be the transition time from young kid to teenager to teenager having to make choices as they say in the playground whilst playing hide and seek "ready or not".

I would be really interested in any other comments like Kate's that could give me some insight into what you would feel important for year 10's to know.

I look forward to your comments

Have a great week.

Choices and Consequences cont'd

Guess I really didn't explain myself properly in the last post.

I was looking at the choices that these year 10 kids will make and wonder if they realise the consequences.

I thought back to when I was that age and realised I didn't even know the word consequence or indeed what it meant!

I wonder how often we first look at the consequences to some of our choices in this world. Would we make different choices? Do the consequences look good or scarey?

Have fun this week thinking more about choices than you have before.

Choices we make, Consequences we take

Choices and Consequences

As I was walking this week, (this is my once a day love myself routine).  I was mentally going through some work I am about to start doing with young people in the 14-16 age group who are in year ten and wondered what if would be like to be growing up in the last 15 or so years. How different would it was to when I was growing up, some errrr lots of years ago.  These kids in year 10 have to start making choices that could affect the rest of their lives.

What do I want to do with the rest of my life? As I pondered this I realised they are only just past being a kid with not a care in the world. No responsibilities except maybe chores at home. But really just living not thinking about tomorrow or what may come. They are barely old enough to get a part-time job.

Suddenly, they come into year 10 and are asked within the first few weeks of the year what sort of work experience do you want to do? I can imagine myself saying to myself sheesh let me just work out what I am doing at the weekend.  Now you want me to make decisions on work experience. Work experience being the sort of work I may want to do in the future.Then at the end of year 10 suddenly they need to be picking subjects to see whether they want to go into an apprenticeship or go to university or get a full time job.

How often as parents do we empathise with our kids suddenly needing to make huge decisions about their future at such a young age.  How often do we think about sitting down with them and helping them to decide what would they love to do. NOT What we would love them to do. After all it will be their life their living not ours.

How did we feel when adults had too much to say about what they thought was good for us?
How did we react?

Take some time out with your kids and ask them how it feels to be their age?  What are the difficulties?
What could be different for them? Offer them your support without taking over.

Serve any teenagers you know this week. Let them know they are believed in and supported.