Health vs. Success

Sometimes it's hard to see the big picture when you're in school: you think getting the grades will get you the job and get you the money, but is this what happiness is all about? I got fooled a couple of times, so can you. Here's an article from Denise Pope about "doing school": http://www.paloaltoonline.com/weekly/morgue/2005/2005_03_30.qandaja.shtml And here are some good exerts: - What will this generation be like as adults? We are finding that these overscheduled, stressed-out kids are actually less innovative than those who grew up with free, unstructured time to play, to make mistakes, to tinker around. - What many parents don't realize is that they are contributing to the frenzy this way and they are hurting their kids. A Palo Alto educator calls them "helicopter parents" - they hover and they swoop in and they don't want their kids to make mistakes or get hurt or have any real freedom to mess up. But kids need this freedom, even to get hurt and make mistakes, or they won't be able to thrive now or later in life - I see so many kids and parents striving for perfection - according to a flawed definition of success (super parents/uber-kids). This is truly impossible. Instead, we should be striving to be healthy - mentally and physically and spiritually.