What is YOUR Spark?
How long is it since you’ve nurtured your own “Spark”? You know that special something that makes you feel really good, that ignites your passion, that you can lose track of time doing?
If you’re lucky (lucky by choice, that is), your spark is your work and you’re earning your living doing what you love most.
For most of us though, our sparks only come out of the closet as hobbies, and kids tend not to be very hobby-friendly – at least not when they are little.
Tired, stressed and busy, we often forget to fit into our lives the things we most enjoy. We give our best (i.e. all) to our kids, looking after their every need, while ignoring our own. We get out of the habit of doing things for ourselves.
That’s OK for a little while, especially for the first few years, but if it becomes our standard way of life, we can soon lose track of who we really are – as individuals, and often also as a couple. We can easily lose touch with the incredibly interesting, active people our partners were originally attracted to.
It’s time to create some better habits… ones that have our own sparks built in. After all, you can’t nurture and inspire your children to develop their sparks, if you don’t understand and enjoy your own.
Here are some good reasons why you should nurture YOUR sparks!
To set a good example
We all know kids learn more from our actions rather than our words. Seeing us doing things we love encourages them to do the same. It can also open up the conversation with our kids about sparks. Plus, as sparks are often inherent talents (and therefore potentially heritable), you are exposing your kids to an activity that they may end up also loving.
It keeps your “awesome” status alive
A friend of mine recently told me that her 8yo son was completely taken aback when he learned that she ran her own business, creating websites. It turned out his Mum was more than “just a mum!” Wow! Let your kids know that you are a fabulous knitter, or can write poetry, or play the harmonica, or whatever… it makes them feel good to be the child of someone so cool and talented!
You can work collaboratively on projects
It took me a long, long time to accept that as far as craft projects went, I was probably never going to get my son to help. It’s just not his thing. It is, however, mine… especially if there’s some designing involved. So for projects like the Viking Shield and Runes, I let him come up with the ideas, while I do the pretty graphics! I LOVE it, and he’s not pressured to do something he doesn’t enjoy. Win, win!
Working together on projects is incredibly rewarding, especially when you play to each other’s strengths. It gives you time to teach, but also to learn. Plus it’s nice just to hang out together.
You might discover your life purpose
Better yet, you might find a way to earn a living from it! My life is full of wonderful women (yes, they are pretty much all women, sorry guys), who have decided to earn a living doing stuff they love. Tired of playing big business games, they have gone out on their own, and are following their dreams and nurturing themselves, while having the flexibility, time and energy their kids need at the same time. Maybe it’s YOUR time to rediscover your passion and purpose – and go for it!
To make you happy!
It’s not all about the kids – although of course, happy parents = happy kids… that sort of thing! Doing something you enjoy doing for the sake of it is good for YOU. If it helps you unwind, feel more like your best self and gives you joy, go for it!
Our kids do need us to be our best selves, and taking the time to look after ourselves and do the things that give us the greatest pleasure is so important. So think about your sparks… take some time to tap into that 12 year old or 8 year self… what did you love to do, what did you dream about, what were your good at, what did you wish you could do all day?
