How do you want your young people to look at the world\/be in the world?\u00a0 by Debra Brodowski<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nIn my day job, I see a lot people experiencing challenges with anxiety. These can stem from a need for control, a need for perfection, a need to ‘be the best’. As part of my role within the P&F, I hear similar challenges from families. I have even written previously on perfectionism, anxiety; as well as the benefits of supporting our young people in cultivating a growth mindset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Feelings of anxiety, need for control, need for perfection, are still at levels higher than pre-pandemic levels. For our young people, this means that they are growing up in a world where there is more fear, fueling those feelings of anxiety and need for perfection. How do we shift this cycle of anxiety in the pursuit of perfection? There is no easy or quick fix; however one thing can help us is to reflect on how we look at the world and be part of this world. How is this possible and why is this important?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An example that I like to reflect on is the recent FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup, hosted by Australia and New Zealand. For those that know me, I am quite obsessed with soccer, and I LOVE the Matildas (The Australian Women\u2019s soccer team\u2026 Go Tillies!). I so very much wanted them to WIN the World Cup. They came fourth. I could be disappointed with this result and look at the campaign in a number of ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– We were never going to win\u2026 There are too many other good teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Sam Kerr\u2019s injury immediately before the start of the tournament\u2026 We were doomed from the start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That game against Nigeria\u2026 What was the coach thinking? Awful game! The coach needed to be sacked?! This became media headlines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The referee and the ‘mind games’ of our opposition in the Semi Final\u2026 It\u2019s always easy to blame someone else\/something else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I could go on\u2026 What I will take away from this World Cup are the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What an amazing team we have. The Matildas played their hearts out, they tried their best, and they were such impressive ambassadors for sport (not just women\u2019s sport, not just soccer\u2026 Sport as a whole). They are also placed 10th in the world, and came fourth! The number 1 team in the world (USA) were knocked out earlier in the tournament!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The nation came together to support our amazing Matildas and the World Cup. This was the highest attendance of any Women\u2019s World Cup. The fans have been inspirational (I\u2019m looking at you in particular Colombian fans\u2026. Amazingly inspiring). We came together as a community and in a positive and inclusive way. It was a celebration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Setbacks happen. Sam Kerr\u2019s injury meant that the team had to learn how to play and win without one of the best players in the world on the pitch. Mistakes in the game also happened, both on the pitch with the players, and with the refereeing decisions\u2026 We accepted the situation, picked ourselves up, and kept playing our hearts out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Matildas didn\u2019t win the World Cup\u2026 We didn\u2019t even make the Final. The Matildas though, have become impressive ambassadors for sport and we are truly impressed by the manner in which they carried themselves both on and off the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what does this mean for us and our young people:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We can teach our young people that circumstances may not be in our favour sometimes. We may get annoyed, frustrated, disappointed. That\u2019s fine\u2026 We can acknowledge and accept our feelings and then choose to reframe our thoughts into something more helpful and positive. For example, I was so disappointed in the Matildas’ performance against Nigeria, but my goodness they turned it around and had an awesome following game against Canada (the current Olympic champions).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We can teach our young people that there is not only one thing to strive for; we can have multiple areas of focus that can help foster a more complete view of the world. For example, we wanted to win the World Cup, and didn\u2019t. However, it was not all a waste of time, there are so many other positive aspects to take away from the event (more people following the Matildas, more funding for women\u2019s sport etc).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– We can teach our children that the way that we look at the world has an impact on our world view. Constantly looking at what might have been, what we missed out on, what we failed to achieve, what didn\u2019t occur, can wear us down and have a negative impact on our wellbeing (anxiety, depression). Accepting that things didn\u2019t turn out as planned, however searching for the positive, can lead us to feeling buoyed by a situation, hopeful, and even sometimes joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Choosing how we look at the world, and how we participate in it, has a powerful impact\u2026 We also get to choose whether it is a positive impact or negative impact.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mid term update On behalf of the Parents and Friends Association (PNF), we are delighted to bring you the Term 3 mid-term update, reflecting on the progress, achievements, and upcoming events of our community. It’s been a wonderful term so far, filled with collaboration and growth. The PNF General Meeting held on 7 August was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":3425,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","article_category":[8],"article_tag":[],"class_list":["post-7985","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","article_category-community"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/ssc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/7985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/ssc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/ssc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/ssc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7985"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/ssc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/ssc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"article_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/ssc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_category?post=7985"},{"taxonomy":"article_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/ssc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_tag?post=7985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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