Bill Belew has raised 2 bi-cultural kids, now 34 and 30. And he and his wife are now parenting a 3rd, Mia, who is 8.
Christopher Robin
“You are braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – Christopher Robin, Winnie the Pooh
Little boys know things, too. Not just us little girls.
My daddy is an encourager. He is also a motivator.
When he lived in Japan he often took his students on adventures. Maybe challenge is a better word. He often challenged them to do more, try harder, go farther, do better than they thought they could.
And more often than not they could do more, harder, farther and better.
But, daddy says, they sure liked to complain along the way.
Not a few times, says daddy, they would get pretty mad at him while they were tired, tired, tired and tired … the usual outcome of doing more than you are used to.
But also they would often achieve more than they thought they could. They would get a better result than they imagined for themselves.
They were braver, stronger and smarter than they thought. And they were bigger and better people as a result.
They also often forgot who it was that ‘pushed’ them to be so.
Lots of complaining and blaming and hollering along the way. No thank yous after it was all done.
I wonder if Pooh Bear remembered to tell Christopher Robin thank you.
I want to be braver, stronger and smarter. I also want to remember to say thank you to whoever helps me become that way.
