Success. It’s something we all hope our kids get a taste of. It’s great to see them celebrate. We sometimes hope so much that we make success easy for them. We over-guide. We help clear the path to make it happen. Because we love them. We are supposed to be there for them. We’re supporting. Too much.
But sometimes really being there for them? It requires us to step back. We have to watch while they stumble. We have to listen while they struggle. We have to ask the hard questions that turn the gears in their minds and cause them to question everything. The things we say become the catalyst to push their thinking to higher levels. That struggle? It is probably one of the hardest things to witness. You, the one who is supposed to help as the teacher, is now letting them fall. Except you’re not. You’re letting them experience learning. The real kind. And that? It’s the most valuable thing you can teach. It’s pouring your trust in the process. And that trust? Your students can feel it.
We can be the guide, but we can’t take on their journey. Because when we steal their struggle? The experience becomes ours, and even worse, the learning becomes ours, too. We are essentially stealing their success. We are taking the trust out of the process. Unintentionally, yet it’s happening.
We must always remember that even though success is sweet, that journey to get there? It’s the sweetest part of it all.