My youngest son is one of these fortunate individuals for whom life is a bit of a doddle. He was born somewhat overdue but in a furious hurry, eyes wide open and all smiles. That set the tone for his life to come.
He walked, talked and did pretty much everything sooner than was expected. He climbed, jumped, ran and catapulted his way through life and in his action packed nine years he has barely stopped to take a breath.
From a very early age, whether he picked up a tennis racquet, a golf club or a harmonica, he knew instinctively what he was supposed to do with it. The facility with which he kicks a ball, runs and plays piano is a delight to watch and causes my husband to sigh with a mixture of pride and envy.
There are plenty of his classmates who give him a run for his money when it comes to school competitions, but he has always been quietly confident that with a minimum of bother he is well capable of holding his own.
He thrives on a challenge, reaching for whatever is just ahead or tantalisingly out of his grasp and with seeming effortlessness he pulls himself level. Often the goal is his older brother, a convenient target and a readily available yardstick to measure his achievements against.
Like most boys his age, he builds Lego, invents board games and adores soccer but he also loves art, is involved in a variety of sports and plays four musical instruments. He tells us he wants to do more. This presents a bit of a conundrum to his parents who know that underneath all of the bravado and eagerness, lies a soft and vulnerable young boy.
We are eager for him to use his capabilities with humility and want to impress upon him the link between effort and reward, but at the same time we want him to be a carefree child for as long as is possible.
This child wants to try everything but also to excel at everything. He is limited only by the available hours each day and the patience of those who would ferry him to and from his endeavours.
Recently, however, he is starting to realise that talent and raw ability will only take him so far. For the first time he didn’t get picked for the team and some other classmate got top marks in the maths test. Reliance on talent alone may ultimately leave him falling short as others develop and hone their abilities and accelerate past.
We tell him his raw talent is a God-given opportunity, a privileged starting position, one that can be built upon to allow skill to blossom. Life is full of limitless possibilities and much as we may want, we simply can’t engage with everything. It will ultimately be his choice which skills he wants to develop but for now, the key is enjoyment.
Careers
At this stage of his life he is invincible and indefatigable. He belongs to a generation where two or three careers in one lifetime is no longer an absurdity and the opportunity to engage with a wide variety of interests and pursuits across ones’ lifetime is a reality. As with all of life, there are no guarantees and ultimately between us we will have to make a judgement call as to where best to direct our efforts and resources.
For the moment I believe our job as his parents is to open a variety of doors of possibility for him, to foster his natural exuberance and to encourage him to explore whatever vision he has for himself and of course to ensure that he doesn’t burn out by the age of 10.