ColourBars,

Ok, what you are doing with your sister who struggles? That is wonderful. And though she doesn't get that from your parents who just want her to be normal? Well, you are the important voice that gives her permission to try and she does know you love her.

ColourBars, I spent years teaching children how to ride. And there were children that had NO self esteem, much like you to be honest. And when they were with me? Well, I showed them to TRY and have FAITH in themselves. And I paid attention to each of them and validated them every single time they came. I designed special lessons for each one of them and they didn't really know what I was doing either. And each and every one of them always left me feeling better about themselves.

Now I could not change their parents ColourBars. All I could do is give them a mentor, someone who believed in them and made them feel special, important, capable and rewarded for every little thing they achieved too. And I also made it a point to talk to their parents and constantly say how nice their child was, how hard they tried and how well they were doing. So what I did is plant a seed in the parents to look for the VALUE in each of their children. Sadly, many parents do NOT know how to do this. Usually a parent would bring their child to me and talk about all the childs imperfections and charector flaws. And as I worked with these children it became more and more obvious that their flaws were from their parents. Because with me they were allowed to BECOME whatever they had that was special. AND THEY ALL HAD SOMETHING SPECIAL.

So, if you take what you feel now and remember how it feels, you can provide others with a mentor that helps them have permission to not say all the negetive things you recite. And that is an important JOB, ACTIVITY. Because each person you touch gets permission to, no matter how many people are in the world, be whoever they can be, because everyone can be something.

No, you cannot change your parents, but your sister has you to give her something special, and it only takes one mentor who cares.

((((Hugs))))
Open Eyes