A friend of mine just posted on Facebook that the couple that is coaching her son’s baseball team is resigning mid-season as their daughter broke her arm. Since their daughter has to sit out the rest of the season, there is no need for them to be there anymore.
Really? What about the commitment they made to the other children, to their parents, to the league, to the other coaches? I question the example this couple is setting for their daughter. What are we if we are not our word?
This girl with the broken arm, who broke it during summer, just the worst time to be in a cast, is learning the lesson of selfness and convenience. If a commitment is no longer convenient, just go back on your word. Rent too high, don’t pay it. Her boss needs her to step up for a business opportunity, just quit.
Maybe the parents thought it would be painful for the girl to watch her friends playing while she just has to watch. Boy, tell me they aren’t a million lessons in that one. First, life can be disappointing. Maybe she won’t get into her first choice of college, maybe she won’t get offered that job she really wants, maybe she will realize she can’t afford the fancy car her neighbor drives. And, then, there is the dignity in being a good sport.
Does anyone teach that anymore? I can remember my mom telling me that it’s ok to pretend to be happy for your friend if you lose and they win. She told me that after I congratulated them and smiled, I would feel better. I still hate losing but, it’s true.
What does all of this have to do with one’s finances? Beyond the examples I have already given, it takes commitment to live within one’s own resources. We as a society are doing an awful job of teaching children to live within their means. The first thing to do is prepare a graduate for the fact that life on the outside is not as nice as life in mom and dad’s house. Kids turn to credit cards when mom and dad kick them off family payroll. Sometimes they don’t even wait for that. Digging themselves into a credit card hole is a tough way to start one’s life.
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