During the gold rush, a man who had been mining in Colorado for several months quit his job, as he hadn’t struck gold yet and the work was becoming tiresome. He sold his equipment to another man who resumed mining where it had been left off.
The new miner was advised by his engineer that there was gold only three feet away from where the first miner stopped digging. The engineer was right, which means the first miner was a mere three feet away from striking gold before he quit.
The Moral:
When things start to get hard, for our teens they often want to give up. Teach them to persevere through the adversity. Many teens give up on following their dreams or passion because the work becomes too difficult, tedious, or tiresome or because we as parents question the validity of that passion.
Support your teens to follow their passion and work for what they want despite the challenges. Be the cheerleader on the sidelines and help them see the value of persistence and effort. Often, they are closer to the finish line than they may think, and if they push just a little harder, they will succeed.
Sadly many turn back when they were literally a few feet away from success. Don’t let that happen to your teen. Teach them that they may never know how close they are, but if they give up, they will never find out just how successful they could have been.