Should parenting be heart-driven or mind-driven? Should you teach your kids contentment over achievement or the other way around?
In today's world's context, contentment and achievement are as confusing as black and white. Many people want the latter. There is nothing wrong to see progress and step on milestones but how will you be able to still teach your child how to be content in things he or she has achieved without giving up on chasing dreams? Isn't it confusing?
Contentment is usually in the heart and achievement in the mind. The goal is to establish a connection from the mind to the heart and vice versa. If the connection is not well established, then you are going to see your child lose direction in life. So what are you going to do?
Both contentment and achievement bring in happiness. Teaching contentment to kids will entail humility, not being greedy, being happy for others, not being jealous, and not being hard on one's self when things do not go their way. Teaching achievement on the other hand entails perseverance, setting clear goals, and becoming competent in a healthy way. You need to balance all these so your kid will grow as a holistically responsible and loving person.
Contentment and achievement may at times take it's roots from pride and this should not be the case. As parents, it is imoprtant to equip children ahead in the starting line with the best lesson called "love". Both contentment and achievement should be driven by this great compelling value. But Love should be beyond emotions. It should be done in honor of God, others, and oneself.
The best thing to teach contentment and heart for achievement is to be an example to your child. Kids imitate what the old people do and usually, what their parents do, they easily immitate. If you set a good example to them, then you are in the right track.
