Tag: difficulties

The most difficult part of parenting

July 5, 2011 / / 6 Comments

I asked this question recently on Twitter and Facebook:

What is the most difficult part of parenting?

I got some fantastic responses…so great, in fact, that I thought I’d share them with you.  I think some of them will resonate with you.

The most difficult part of parenting:

My answers (thought I’d throw my own thoughts in, too):

  • Consistent discipline
  • There are no step-by-step instruction books on parenting.
  • My child has a will and so do I
  • So much of who you are comes out in their personality
  • You don’t get a break. Even when you’re apart, you think about them.
  • It can be embarrassing.
  • $$$$
  • Getting them to eat (my son is 2.5)
  • Helping them understand why they should do the right thing.

Your answers

  • Putting my kids’ needs before my own. BradHuebert
  • The most difficult part of parenting is having kids.  It would be much easier without them! Jeremy_Riggs
  • Not being perfect myself. JCWert
  • Discipline with consistency. Lori Prine Clayton
  • The children. Justin Henne
  • The other parent. Elizabeth Clark
  • Being stern, with them knowing it’s in love. Brenda Taylor
  • Being constantly humbled by my sinfulness. It’s a very real picture into my idolatry of myself.  Courtney Shelton
  • Discipline and tough love.  Sarah McAfee
  • Guilt. Bonnie Bowers
  • Letting the poop slide right off of you…literally and figuratively.  Theresa Milton
  • Patience.  Joseph Smith
  • Not having kids to practice on…thanks for rubbing it in, Ben.  Tyler Aman
  • Letting them go to grow.  It is natural for us to want to shelter and protect them.  It is difficult to step back, even when it is good for them.  Keith Davis
  • Letting them go when they are grown, letting them be who they want to be without question, I really can’t answer this fully, wow!  And I have raised 3 kids already, on the 4th and last! 🙁  Jackie Olvis
  • I just wish my children were still at home!!!  (I also mean when they were younger and I was younger too!)  Mary Jane Ross
  • When someone hurts them and you can’t do anything to stop it.  Hazel Tindle
  • Different at every stage.  There are changes I welcome joyfully and those that pass with sadness.  I do agree that letting go is hard and has been present and progressive at every stage.  Camie Green
  • Letting go when they are adults.  Beth Bunch
  • Not giving them so much attention that gets them looking at themselves instead of God.  Granny Piper

What do you think the most difficult part of parenting is?

 

5 ways to break through creative roadblocks

June 26, 2011 / / 6 Comments

I’ve been behind a creative roadblock since yesterday.

image via NBC33

I ran into it on Monday.  But because of the looming deadline of when the project has to be complete, I powered on through the block.

Except that I didn’t really power through it.

I thought that if I spent enough time, and put forth enough effort, the ideas would eventually come.  They’d eventually surface after hours and hours of failed attempts.

The roadblock persisted.

But now the roadblock’s gone.  And in the process, I learned how I got passed it.

5 action steps to get  the creative juices flowing again

1. Talk with another teammate.

A fresh set of eyes can do wonders to point out holes you’re missing.  I talked with another staff member, and immediately he helped me decipher a step forward I could take.  He saw things I didn’t.  He wasn’t bogged down with it like I was.

2. Stop working on it.

This is counterintuitive, I know, especially with a looming deadline.  But I had to take my eyes off of the project…get away from it, and think about something else.  And you know what happened?  When I returned the next day, I knocked out in an hour what would’ve taken me an entire afternoon to complete had I kept pressing through.

3. Step back and zoom out.

When I returned to the project, I tried to look at the project as a whole.  I had focused in on minute details for so long, that when I zoomed out to see the whole project, the holes I was trying to patch were seen quickly and easily.  Seeing the entire project is key to moving forward creatively.

4. Produce a hard copy.

I had been doing all of my work on a computer, digitally.  There was something that happened, though, when I could look at a physical page and evaluate it.  It felt different.  I could spread each of the pages out in front of me, and look at the whole project at a single glance.  And being able to physically “touch” the project changed things up enough to shake me out of my funk.

5. Do something physical.

Go for a run.  Work in the garage.  Walk around the mall.  For me, I worked in my backyard.  I wasn’t actively thinking about the project I still had to complete, but the act of physical labor helped clear my head, exhaust my body, and, somehow, prepare me to get through the roadblock.

Question: What do you do when you’re blocked?

 

Leadership challenges

April 30, 2011 / / 4 Comments

Leadership is challenging.  Whether you’re a leader in your community, your job, or your church, you’ve run into the difficulties that each and every leader faces.  Maybe your challenges are unique…but my guess is that they’re not.

I posted this on Twitter and Facebook recently, to see what other challenges leaders face:

I got some great (and some goofy) comments, so I thought I’d share them with you.

The most difficult part of leadership has to be…

I would add the following

  • change
  • recruiting volunteers
  • keeping the mission and vision front and center
  • creating momentum
  • managing AND leading
  • admitting when you’re wrong

What did I miss?

Do you enjoy leading, or is it more of a burden to you?

 

 

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