Shaping Expectations

A friend sent me this link today for Dennis Hopper's rendition of the Rudyard Kipling poem "If." 



I have always particularly liked this poem. I can still remember the first time my mother pulled the big red book of literature off the wall of shelves that was filled with books in our Florida room, and turned to this poem. I remember listening as she read it, and the line that jumped out at me was "if you can meet with triumph and disaster, and treat these two imposters just the same." I was playing little league baseball at the time, and my coach was not a graceful winner, or a graceful loser. Hearing that line helped me strive to be gracious and even keeled, win or lose.  I was no less competitive, and no less passionate - but in that moment, I realized the game is left on the field. In later years, as a lawyer and lobbyist, these words echoed through my head many times, and helped me maintain relationships with teammates and opponents no matter how fierce the battle.

As I listened today, I was reminded again what great opportunities we have to learn with and from our children - and in this case, in a YouTube format that is comfortable for them. What do your children hear in this poem?  What message did they get?  What does it tell you about who they are, what their dreams are, what they may be struggling with?  How does it differ from what you hear?  Giving 5 minutes to share something like this with your child can set the kind of expectations we would all like our children to strive for - and as it has done for me - it can pay dividends for a lifetime!