A short motivational talk by Betsy Guerra addressing parents whose children seem not to ‘fit in’. The speaker recounts a mother’s call about her son’s disengagement and argues that some children are unique rather than ‘broken’, recommending parents shift from trying to ‘fix’ them toward supporting their distinct gifts and paths.
Chapters
Is your child not fitting in? This is for you. The other day, a mom called me to ask for a psychiatrist or psychologist that could help her son. And before I referred her to someone in my team, I asked if she could share a little bit about her son. And what she told me was that he had already been hospitalized in the past because of depression, and he had gone to psychiatrists and life coaches and psychologists, and you name it. And when I digged in a little bit, she was like, no, he's not motivated. And he, you know, he was supposed to be in college and he left it. And then he was working and he left that too. And he doesn't know what he wants with his life. And I asked a little more about what his interests were, and she told me. And as I listened to this mom who's just trying to help her child, I felt connected to the spirit of this son of hers whom I hadn't even met. And what I received was that this kid had been misunderstood all along. This kid was greater than life itself. And because he didn't fit in, because he wasn't your cookie cutter kid who acts a certain way, goes to certain schools, interacts with other kids in a particular way. Because he was different, or I should say unique, as are all of us children of God, he was misunderstood. He didn't fit in. He. He didn't blend. And mom and dad, who wanted the best for him, were more cookie cutter kind of people, right? Like, they were more traditional, if you will. This kid was. Is bigger than life. And I don't know him, but the description of the mom conveyed it. And what I told the mom was, you know, what if what he needs is not a psychologist or a psychiatrist or to be fixed? What if the one who gets to take a different approach is you? What if you go to him and you tell him, son, you are very special. You are unique. Your gifts don't fit the box that society tells us you need to fit in. And that just means that you get to form your path and rise to what God created you to be? Because like some saying, darling, you weren't created to fit in. You were created to stand out. Let me tell you. Do you think every philosopher or inventor was normal and fit in the box that we in society say kids are supposed to be like? Do you think that's the case? They were different. They were unique. They were bigger than life. That's why we have electricity. Well, this kid is like that. And we get to open up to different possibilities and allow our children to be who they were created to be and support them through the journey so they may evolve into what they're supposed to be and do in this life. Let's not try to mold them to what our expectation was of our children. If it used to be that everybody to be successful had to go to school and then there was a guaranteed job and then you got married and had kids and lived happily ever after. But we know that's not life. We know that the only thing education guarantees nowadays is a big fat loan. Then let's let our kids be who they're created to be. Be and let's listen a little more, let's pay attention and let's let them guide us so that we can support them into becoming and stepping up to what God created them to be. If you enjoy this, please share. I'm sure there's a parent out there, you know who would love to listen to this and get a different perspective and like subscribe and Visit us@betterwithbetsy.com.
