There’s Nothing Tall About It

While being on a layover in the JFK airport, I ordered a “tall” drink from a well-known coffee establishment and chuckled to myself because there’s nothing TALL about the cup at all.  What is wrong with simple and truthful size names like small, medium and large?  These days we try to fancy things up to make ourselves feel more elite by calling the sizes tall, grande and venti.  Yes venti is truthful to its name, but do we really need to showcase it in a different language? I can’t help but laugh. 

These days everyone has some need to feel elite or special even when it’s undeserved.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m 100% all for giving credit where credit’s due when someone works hard or does something great.  I’m not however a supporter of the “give everyone a trophy” mentality.  How are we ever going to be motivated to try harder or go the extra mile when we’re too busy celebrating mediocrity?  It’s ok not to be first or to always win.  That’s when the true lessons are learned.  These are those situations that push us to try harder and to make goals to do better. 

Next time you see someone fail, don’t tell them how awesome they are.  Instead be honest with them and acknowledge the effort they gave it and ask them if they’d like some constructive criticism.  It’s ok if they say no, but if they do want the tips, share them with love and respect.  They’ll value your friendship and your opinion.  I enjoy a compliment as much as the next person, but it means nothing when I know they’re not being honest with their words.  I appreciate that they’re trying to make me feel better, but I’d rather receive the ugly truth than a beautiful lie…

We talk about today’s youth have an entitlement mentality, but we made them that way.  We celebrated every time they peed in the potty and focused on positives instead of correcting negatives because we felt criticized as kids.  Instead of only focusing on the good or the bad, have a healthy balance with your kids.  Otherwise, they will be met with constant failure as they grow older because we’re not giving them an accurate representation of what the real world will bring.  Life comes with failures and victories.  Unless we evaluate and embrace the failures, we’ll never learn to truly celebrate the victories.