May 8, 2014

ISIQ-0466

“Unity is strength… when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.” – Mattie Stepanek

Today’s IQ is dedicated to my amazing wife, and our magnificent two kids.

We work really, really well as a family – most of the time. Occasionally we argue, or yell, or kick, or scream, or cry (and that’s just me.. haha) – just like any other normal family. We are each learning more about who we are, what our role is in life, and how we fit within the family group. But most of the time, we are a really good team, and we have a lot of fun together.

The main thing, I believe, is that we each need to remember that we are part of a team called “Family”., whose objective is to have fun, learn, love, and grow together.

My wife and I are doing our best to raise two healthy, big-hearted, creative kids. Bel and I are also doing our best to keep our relationship strong and full of love. We are not perfect at this whole exercise – there’s no user’s manual for kids and marriage, and your hair would probably curl at some of our “robust discussions”. We are both strong-willed, passionate people, and this can lead to moments of fiery argument, but it also means that we still love each other deeply after almost 10 years of marriage. Together, we always manage to find a common ground from which to operate. I’ve noticed countless times how the solutions we find together are far better than what each of us had come up with separately.

Our kids are doing their best to learn and grow, and figure out who they are. This means testing us out, testing boundaries, trying things, seeing the outcomes, and so on. It’s important for Bel and I to remember this, and despite their best efforts to really get under our skin, we need to keep reminding ourselves that they are learning and testing everything, all day, every day. That’s how we all learn – by trial and error, by trial and success… by testing things.

Although most families can resemble a train wreck sometimes (in our case, sometimes a few times each day before school drop off!), the point is great, successful, loving families all work from the basic tenet that they are a team, and that unity is strength. When we work together with the people we love, amazing things happen.

I hope this gives you something to think about when you next pause and look at your own family, or your group of friends, or your team mates at work.

With love,
Israel. xo

 

PS Thankyou to everyone who has responded to my previous IQ about The Creation – it seems that many of us have trouble ‘Closing the gap between the loose “we should…” and the firm “let’s lock in the date…”‘. If you’ve benefited from any of these IQs, please drop me a line – I’d love to hear from you, and hear about how this work makes a difference for you.

 

{"email":"Email address invalid","url":"Website address invalid","required":"Required field missing"}