My daughter did not have a regular recess partner for her first 2 months of Primary 1.
While classmates had paired up or formed cliques on Day 1, somehow she was excluded.
It broke my heart.
How did my daughter deal with it? Like water off a duck’s back.
Each day at recess, she went round asking girls from other classes “Do you want to be my recess partner?” On occasion, she even asked the older girls in her school.
When she got a “no”, she moved on and asked the next person.
Absolutely no fear of rejection, no fear of being judged.
After a few months, she finally settled in.
Today, she is a confident teenager, typically busier with friends than with school work.
But as she matures into a young lady, I sense that she is facing that pressure to conform.
I see this same behaviour in so many at the workplace.
Many bite their tongues for fear of being judged.
Some don’t go for a new role for fear of failure.
Others ruminate, until all opportunities have passed them by.
A mentor once said: “Act, move, try. I don’t care that you fail. I care that you decide, execute and get new data to let you know what to do next.”
I wonder how my daughter at 7 was so wise.
Or maybe, kids just know best.
And we adults – after a lifetime of acquiring bad habits – need to learn from them again.
Agree?