Thursday, October 15, 2009

He Beat Them ALL with ONE ARM in Hell's Kitchen!

As parents, especially in this day and age of laziness (um...who, me?) and always looking for a way to make things faster, easier and less of a burden on our ability to skate easily through life, we have a HUGE responsibility to our children; we must teach them to no matter what, to persevere!!

persevere: to persist in anything undertaken; maintain a purpose in spite of difficulty, obstacles, or discouragement; continue steadfastly.

I watch a ton of reality shows, and who knew? Who knew a season finale could hold a valuable example of persevering?

I know I tease about being lazy and not wanting to do stuff, and I know all of you who relate aren't lazy either...and I also I know we all work very hard to keep the house running, kids healthy and a semblance of self, even when we're about to fall on the floor absolutely exhausted, not sure we can lift another finger. As I type I am caring for my youngest, who was diagnosed with the H1N1, and I am running overtime, making sure the house stays clean, pushing fluids, logging medicine dispensing, making sure the boy doesn't feel ignored, and generally trying to keep it all together, while praying everyone gets through this quickly and easily!

So what am I trying to say here? Well, what parent hasn't given lecture after lecture about not giving up when the math problem is hard, or a cursive F continues to frustrate, or after the 10th fall off the bike, accompanied with scrapes and bruises? Or the smacks in the face with a soccer ball? Man, when that happened to my son, he never wanted to play soccer again! Granted it hurt, but he was fine, his face didn't even get red! We talked him into going back in, so he could help his team, and fight off the desire to give up. He finally did, and since attending a college soccer game and seeing the beating those boys take "without crying" he has taken his bumps on the field in stride.

Many times we are afraid to let our kids struggle and cry, while we gently push them to get through whatever it is, so we give up with them and just do it for them. I would say if I am guilty of at least one thing, it's been doing too much for my kids, and actually not pushing them to do their best and to overcome, especially when it is an appropriate and safe scenario to do so. I am really working on that now, trying to foster that independence and confidence in their abilities, and, it's paying off!

Circle back if you can to my love of reality shows (take some Dramamine if you need). We just finished watching Hell's Kitchen, where Dave, an executive chef in California, took the coveted prize of becoming the head chef of the Araxi in Canada!

Here's the thing, his arm was in a cast for nearly the whole season! He was in massive amounts of psycho pain! At any point he could have bailed for very legitimate reasons, but, well, watch this guy!



Are you kidding me? This is how he worked the whole season, and sometimes he hurt his arm in the middle of service, and he would run to the back and groan and psych himself back up and come to save the day as the other contestants burned appetizers, sent out mushy risotto and raw pork, and generally looked dazed and confused as Chef Ramsey screamed at them and beat up trashcans. See Mr. Standaround right there in the beginning? Yeah, he grated the tops his fingers off in the middle of the season (um, yes, ACK!), and after that every time he like, ruined his food on a station, he blamed the cheese grater incident. Um...DAVE HAS ONE ARM! And Dave deserved that win man! I mean, Kevin, the second runner up, was great too, and he had two bum ankles for a while (both of them were hobbling all over the kitchen, keeping it from sinking), but Dave had the culinary skills and perseverance like I haven't seen in a while!

Naturally we must know our limits and not let pride or stupidity put us in harm's way, and we need to let our kids know we don't expect perfection, but we do expect their best. Ya know I have to ask myself, do I really push myself to my full potential, and tap into that ability to overcome like I should, based on the gifts and talents I was given by God? Do I really teach this to my kids and present a model they can glean from?

And actually, if you're pondering that thought as well, and you need even MORE inspiration, then watch this. We got to see this man speak last year, and I wish I had had my kids with me! The have seen this video, and I should show it more, because it really made us all think and be thankful for having it all so easy, and to help them remember that if we have goals and dreams or challenges and obstacles in life, we must persevere!!



6 comments:

SPEAKING FROM THE CRIB said...

i love hell's kitchen, chef ramsey, and HOW could dave NOT win. he's a champ! great post! found you from uncluttered brain - i was a fellow award recipient and now following!

Melanie @ Whimsical Creations said...

Stopping by from sits. Hope your child feels better soon.

YAY for perseverance!! Definitely wish more people would teach their children that.

Stephanie said...

Yeah for Dave! He wanted it so so badly. Fighting through that pain. Quite an accomplishment!

Menopausal New Mom said...

You are right on, we need to spend more time teaching our children how to overcome challenges rather just doing the work for them because it's easier for us.

By the way, I love Hell's Kitchen and just have to say "Well Done Dave!"

Deb

w said...

so... you're telling me to perserVARe. get up early. run my circles. take some draMAYERmine if i have to. deal with what may happen in the midEDle of my run (you know what i mean. and cramp).

also. i didn't like that green stuff.

The Retired One said...

You are right...so many people are inspirational because they have overcome tremendous challenges...kind of makes me look bad when I complain about being constipated, or tired, or sore from doing things I love like gardening...I should instead be damn glad I CAN garden and that I have time to do the things I love...a great reminder, thanks!

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