Daily Reflections for Living Strong

It’s painful to be under the microscopic eye of parents.

It’s great to have loving and supportive parents, but it’s also quite a burden having them be nit-picky about all the things you are not striving to achieve according to them– sadly from the perspective of their own eyes.

It’s funny how they seem to be seeking perfection in you when you are already perfect.

One of your biggest critics in life will be your own parents based on a particular element called “presence.” Presence is what exists continuously “in their eyes” as you are raised and reared by them from the onset of your birth and continuing until life passes by.

Many parents have terrible habits in that they will see and view children according to what they observe without context. Parents also have a funny storage system of keeping track of children’s actions, speech and behavior patterns regardless of time.

This storage of patterns related to you is what is going to get you in trouble time and time again, and be the reason behind disagreements you have with your parents. This will be case even if you are working hard to change your own behavior patterns such as fighting laziness, timeliness, or obesity.

What is of most relevance about good change is that this happens outside of the window of others – even your parents. Because of the storage of patterns, parents will always be able to look up the file of some action that you took that was negative in the past, even though you have corrected it, and they will love bringing it to light whenever they want.

Not sure why they do this but “concern about you” seems to be on the tip of their tongue on many occasions.

The weight of your marketability is always higher in the presence of parents for some reason. Yet what is essential in your life, are those things that even your parent’s can’t see.

It’s been said that the best actions toward others should be done in secret. There is no need to advertise how good you are to someone. We should be good for the sake of being good. Just act good and no need to put up the billboard of your action.

But what happens these days is that we need to provide validation to even our parents of our good actions – which is something that we shouldn’t have to advertise but must as they are in most situations clinging on to negative actions that they have stored about us in their memory.

The most important and relevant actions that the child is taking toward self-improvement is actually on the blind-side of the parents. They are only seeing you for who you are in their presence – but presence is not indicative of what you are really doing when you are not “in sight” of them.

What this means is that if you are sitting on a couch that could be interpreted that you are lazy when you are actually active on your soccer team. Or if you are eating junk food this means that they conclude you eat the wrong kinds of foods all the time when in reality you are eating salads several times a week. Or if you act in moods of frustration, they assume you are stressed out and moody all the time when in reality you are just occasionally hit with the usual humdrum of life.

The words interpreted, concluded and assumed are words that misrepresent the true real self. There are some hidden truths to these behavior patterns that must not be overlooked – and the truth is that we will always be blind to it.

Some of the kids who you think are lazy will be the next genius. Those who you think are complacent will start the next biggest company. Those who are eating junk food may become the next fitn...

Your Mount Laurel Martial Arts Guy and father of four, Peter Liciaga, shares his thoughts (tip) for today. Peter is a full-time parent and martial arts teacher in Mount Laurel. To find out about his martial arts program, go to www.DinotoKarate.com or call 856-235-0414.

In this video I share my parenting tip for today…

What’s yours?

To find out about our martial arts program and see our class schedule…

visit our website at www.dinotokarate.com

OR CALL ME AT 856-235-0414

In this video I share how we make it easy for parents to enroll their children in our martial arts…

Have you ever thought about martial arts for YOUR child?

To find out about our martial arts program and see our class schedule…

visit our website at www.dinotokarate.com

OR CALL ME AT 856-235-0414

Give up the bad habits that rob kids of mental strength.

Raising a mentally strong kid doesn’t mean he won’t cry when he’s sad or that he won’t fail sometimes. Mental strength doesn’t make you immune to hardship and it’s not about suppressing your emotions.

In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Mental strength is what helps kids bounce back from setbacks and it gives them the strength to keep going, even when they’re plagued with self-doubt. A strong mental muscle is the key to helping kids reach their greatest potential in life.

But raising a mentally strong kid requires parents to avoid the common–yet unhealthy–parenting practices that rob kids of mental strength. In this podcast I identify 13 things to avoid if you want to raise a mentally strong kid who is equipped to tackle life’s toughest challenges.

Discipleship is being committed to a way of life according to the instructions and guidance provided by another. In this podcast/video I go deeper in what may be valuable for parents and teachers…

Whatever fills your awareness most intensely is what you will bring to life. Instead of filling your awareness with fears and excuses, fill it with passion.

With your moments, your skills, your words and your actions you will change your world today. Choose to let that change be driven by what you love rather than by what you fear.

Focus on the good things, on the possibilities, and on those dreams and values that are your most authentic. Make yourself the living embodiment of the best you can imagine.

Your life is constantly shaped by the way you live it, the way you think of it and the way you feel it. Even the smallest things have an influence, and all those things combine together to build the life you experience.

Every day is an opportunity to more fully express the unique beauty of who you are. Every situation is one in which you can choose to give rich substance and meaning to your world.

Feel the power that exists in every choice, and in every moment. Use that power wisely and purposefully, and live life at its best.

until next time… live black belt strong and have a great day.

Whatever you have to get done today, is what it is. Labeling it as difficult or undesirable only gets in the way of getting it done.

See whatever you need to get done as an opportunity to be empowered. See it as an opportunity to make a difference, to exercise your influence.

If you evade, procrastinate, or descend into self pity, you’re mainly hurting yourself. So choose the empowering, positive path and get it done. It’s your duty. It’s your responsibility.

You have what it takes to do what you must. Put the power of action on your side.

Confidence is there, waiting for you to claim it. Achievement is in sight, and you can act to make it yours.

Right now, you can set in motion the power of your action. Without hesitation, go ahead and get it done. The power of YOUR action will bring you freedom.

Until next time, be black belt strong and BE EMPOWERED!