Dreaming Careers for Children

Parents often hold the view that they know what their children should do when they grow.

In reality, they are only trying to realise their own unfulfilled dreams through their children. If we were objectives, we would realise that every child is like a seed with its own unique potentials which are manifested in form of fruits that come out of it when it grows. How many children are alike in the same family receiving the same environment for growth?

So, as parents, what can we do? All we can do is to spot the natural talent in our child early on and nurture carefully without exerting pressures. We should help our children to determine their basic natures and then nurture the same with patience and care.

One way of finding the basic nature for any one is to jot down whatever thoughts come in the mind first thing as one gets up. Repeat this exercise for a week without referring to the previous lists. After a week, compare all the lists and select those thoughts that were most repeated and prioritise them in the order of most repetitions. One would most likely be left with only two or three thoughts in the end. They will clearly indicate one's basic nature. This exercise can be repeated several times during the growing years of a child to confirm his/her basic nature.

Lastly, no work is 'great' or 'small'. You need all types of weather to make up a year. If a squirrel cannot carry forests on its back, neither a mountain can crack a nut.