IF YOU WANT SOMETHING, THEN PUT EFFORT INTO ACHIEVING IT YOURSELF!

“If you have a dream, then try to hold on to it. Do not let anyone tell you that you cannot achieve your dream, even if it is me. If you want something, put effort into getting it yourself. It is just simple like that!”

I was scrolling through social media when I came across this short conversation between a father and his son in the movie that was truly impressive to me, leading me to pause for a while to listen to the video’s content more carefully. I strongly agreed with the parent’s teachings. However, somewhere deep inside of me was still a slight feeling of being heartbroken, wishing that, if only all parents worldwide could encourage, inspire or even reassure their children just like that as these kids are on their way to conquering their lives’ “big adventure”.

This is an inspirational movie, derived from an American stock market millionaire’s true story. It is a movie that I think every parent should see once in their lives, especially those who are starting a business while building a family. Additionally, if you are a single father or mother, this could be the movie that will change your and your children’s lives.

The portrait of a “single father” in that movie suddenly raised the image of my father back in the days when I was young. Moreover, I also realized that I was truly lucky to have him as a companion throughout my childhood – similar to the young boy Christopher in the movie, who follows his father all day long, no matter if it was sleeping at an acquaintance’s house, or spending the nights in public toilets, that boy has never ceased to respect, trust and treasure his dad. The boy seemed to become a source of strength, a strong source of light, helping his father overcome all difficulties and obstacles on the hard journey of earning a living and establishing a career.

Although I truly admire the warm and lovely way that little boy treats his father, for me, the characteristics of the father are the truly impressive ones. That is because he was going through a difficult, and miserable phase in life, yet he still did not give up any opportunities to get a job, to promote his talents, or to earn money for raising his children.

Throughout my life, I have met many parents when they were in difficult circumstances and under much life pressure, or when they still had to worry about being able to provide for their families, they tended to have no energy left to pay attention to their children’s need of being loved or cared for. The parents will be easily irritated. They can even just “cut” off their children’s most suitable, reasonable dreams and desires just because of the difficult life they had to face. There are even people who can not stay calm and conscious enough in life, resulting in them always scolding their children, disregarding their kids’ goals and efforts in daily studying.

That phenomenon has hurt a lot of kids, especially when they are on the verge of puberty. Children do not have the right to choose their parents or choose the circumstances in which they were born, yet surely, they will always have the right to change their upcoming future. However, their parents can not always be the ones who support, guide, or simply stay by their side, making them more confident in their choices.

Therefore, just like the fierce encouragement and look that the father in the movie gave to the child – “If you have a dream, please try to hold on to it. Do not let anyone tell you that you cannot achieve your dream, even if it is me. If you want something, put effort into getting it yourself. It is just simple like that!” This quote made me feel extremely grateful and wanted to spread this message to more parents all around the world.

My dear friend, I am also a mother, and I have also gone through difficult times, similar to most other parents. In particular, I am also a stepmother – a position where it is much more difficult initially when starting to build family relationships, than a biological mother. Fortunately, when my daughter and I successfully built up a close bonding and understanding between us, we finally gradually opened our hearts and understood each other better through many confidants and patient companionship during the past few years.

From a girl with a strong personality, who is very sensitive and easy to expresses many attitudes towards things happening in life, being so close to “rebellion” due to the psycho-physiological development of her age which is also affected by lots of internal mental damage, now, my daughter has had more positive changes than before.

She knows how to be more independent, to update stories of her life to us, from personal stories to friends’ stories when the whole family gathers around to finish a meal. I can not list them all out because I know she still has many more aspects for her to improve. However, we also strongly recognized the efforts that she has put in, even though some efforts require more patience from her so that she can be more perfect.

From these changes, I am more and more determined that, when we “swap” from being a parent, and an adult, to being a friend, or a companion, our children will develop more easily. Eventually, they would not try to distance themselves from their parents, even when entering a difficult phase such as puberty.

Remember back when you were a kid, if you were bullied on the street, you would return home and tell your parents or siblings right away, right? At that time, if your parents understood, soothed you, became an “ally” to you in a certain way, and then finally analyzed the rights and wrongs for you to understand the situation better, you will also be more comfortable and assured than coming home to your parents’ scoldings, right?

Our children are not exceptions. No matter what journey or experience they go through, if they have their parents’ encouragement and companionship, they will surely grow up with a warm heart and stable, healthy mental health!

Children will never leave their parents if parents are truly their “allies”! Thanks to our parents, they will strive to move forward with better reassurance. Thanks to the children, we will be motivated to overcome all the daily fatigue!

Therefore, my dear friend, do not deny your children’s dreams when we have not given them a chance to start exploring their potential. Give them space and motivation to work hard for what they like. If they fail, at least they would still have us parents by their side!

Much love,
Truly Inspired