Hi Everyone,
Chelsea here, I have a fun story to share for this newsletter.
Last week, I was sitting on the steps of our community pool with my toddler. As I saw a group of high schoolers, I smiled to myself remembering back to my own high school pool days with friends. I noticed there were different groups chatting as there were about 15 within the group that had gathered. Some of the high schoolers were in the pool together, some were eating snacks at the tables outside and others were talking 1:1. As my son and I splashed and played, he loved watching the big kids. In fact, he kept yelling out to them, “Excuse me big kids, excuse me big kids!” He so badly wanted to use their super soakers, be included and engaged with them. Would you agree, my husband and I have an extrovert on our hands?
What I found most fascinating, as my son and I were playing, is a conversation I could hear a few of the kids having - one of the boys walked up to the girls and introduced himself saying, “I normally wait until someone I know is here in the group to interact because I can be shy, I’m actually really introverted.” One of the girls welcoming responded, “Oh, we are introverts too! A lot of us are, but everyone is really friendly and once you get to know everyone, it will be fine.”
I wanted to yell out in the moment, “Good for you kids! What a high level of self-awareness you have and you’re willing to be vulnerable with one another?! Way to go!” I held back as I’m pretty sure they were already wondering why a mom and her toddler were choosing to stick around amongst their gathering. As I paused and reflected, I felt so encouraged to know that high schoolers these days are open to having these conversations, willing to be transparent with one another and they have the self-awareness and confidence to communicate. It could not have been easy for the boy to initiate in the moment as the introvert, yet he did and got a very positive response.
It also led me to reflect on the wonderful work of the Find Your Why program and the self-awareness that each of the high schoolers gains with one-on-one coaching and group seminar learning. The learning opportunity is invaluable for the rest of their lives and careers. As a daughter to Tess and friend/supporter of Deanna, Kattie and the Find Your Why program, it is so inspiring to watch the work these kids are doing internally, to know themselves, so they can have the external experiences that are the most meaningful to them and create the lives they envision for their present reality and future.
Oh, and when the extrovert showed up at the pool, she yelled, “Hey everyone, it’s time to get in the pool! Let’s have some FUN!”
Wishing you all a wonderful rest of your summer and sending you positive energy.