Growing up in a world where “World’s Strongest Man” and MMA are commonly aired on TV, our society puts value on the strength of men. Seeing the size of some of these World’s Strongest Men is truly insane. If you search for “strongman next to bodybuilder“, you’ll know what I mean. Since I recently have started working out and lifting weights again (no, my goal is not to become a strongman), I decided to ask my son what the strongest part of his body was.
Being a good dad, I taught him how to flex and show off his biceps, so naturally that was the response I was anticipating. As expected, he proceeded to point to his muscles and I began teaching him about the power in your leg muscles and how they are actually the strongest muscles in your body.
A few days later though, I had the realization that I was wrong. The strongest part of your body is much less about your physical muscles, but rather your brain. Whether this shows up in literal feats of strength, like a skinny mother lifting up a car to free a trapped child, or listening to the many stories of the mental endurance from prisoners of war.
Time to run
I decided to put this to the test after hearing a snippet from a Joe Rogan podcast where the guest basically said that “when you think you’re effed, you’re actually only 40% effed”. (It’s Joe Rogan, so the “effed” was substituted for my more sensitive readers) At that time, I was focused specifically on improving my running and at the time, my farthest I’ve ever ran was 5k.
Doing some super basic math based on this quote, I figured that I should be able to do 10k and get fairly close to “totally effed”. There was something about having that defined distance in my mind the entire time that totally shaped my run. Sure, it was a slower initial 5k time, but I found myself having more energy once I told myself that “I’m only halfway done”.
It wasn’t all butterflies and happy thoughts after that mental switch. The run was still difficult and my muscles and joints were more sore than they ever have been, but I was able to push through knowing that I had a goal in place.
I’ve never ran a marathon before but I assume this is the most rewarding part of it, being able to mentally push through when your body is telling you to stop. This basic concept is something that we need to be teaching our children. Your MIND is the strongest part of your body.
Teaching your children
Through lots of repetition, I’ve been able to teach my children the “right answer” to the question of the strongest part of your body, but simply having the head knowledge isn’t enough. It’s the same exact concept as helping your children memorize bible verses. Being able to recite them is great (and encouraged in the Bible), but they don’t have much meaning until you actually teach what they mean.
Take Genesis 1:1 for example, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth”. That is one of the verses that our children have memorized, but they still don’t fully grasp or take it in. (To be fair, I need these reminders when reading the Bible as well) It is your responsibility as a dad to be engaging your children in these truths and explaining the implications of them. A few examples for Genesis 1:1 that I’ve used are listed below.
- When taking your children for a walk or are playing at the park, point out some of the beauty of God’s creation and how He created it
- Is your child questioning whether God is big enough to solve his/her problems? Remind them that He created everything and nothing is too big for Him
This is where true growth and understanding takes place. When you are able to take something you learned (or memorized in this case), and relate it to your real life to have a meaningful impact.
Jumping back to our “strongest part of the body” conversation, what are some ways that you can reinforce mental fortitude in your children? Some examples I’ve used are below.
- When your children exclaim, “This is too hard!” encourage them to first get calm and then try to think of a different way to solve the problem
- As your children get more and more frustrated, teach them to have positive self-talk with phrases like “I can do this!” or “I haven’t learned this yet, but I will!”
- Show your children the advantages of simple machines, or other tools to make physical work easier (Work smarter, not harder!)
The goal as you raise your children shouldn’t be to treat them like machines so that they get the most done the fastest. We need to be teaching frameworks and character traits that will far outlast us as parents and will guide them as they encounter new challenges. Obviously we can’t teach them the solution to every problem, but if we build the foundation for problem solving and mental endurance, they will have tactics to overcome them.
Reflection Questions
- What common phrases are you teaching your children? Are they good phrases meant for building up, or negative phrases?
- When was the last time you brought up a challenge that you overcame while your kids were around? Dinner time when everyone is around the table is a good time to share your victories.
