Listen.
Listen to Learn.
Listen to Understand.
Listen to Love.
Listen to Hear.
Hear. Understand. Learn. Love.
A hull is ‘the main body of a ship or other vessel, including the bottom, sides, and deck.’ It’s the structure. Without a hull, a ship simply would not exist. The hull may not be the part we notice first, and yet its structure, and its wellbeing, affects the rest of the vessel. Without a hull, there would be nothing to decorate. No fancy bits to add. A ship without a hull is not a ship. And a ship with a broken hull is sunk.
The hull is the underside. And that’s where we’re going. Hear. Understand. Learn. Love. To the underside of ourselves, and our teenagers. We’re going to the underside. The part that’s covered with barnacles, slime, scratches, and a few unnoticed dents.
It’s the part we generally don’t look at, notice, or think about. Until there’s a problem.
Without looking though, we will never know what needs maintenance and what needs repair.
Get a hole in your hull and your ship is sunk.
Am I getting through? STOP PRETENDING EVERYTHING IS OK, and start doing the work to know it is ok.
“For each one of us, if we are going to act with purpose, from the heart, we need to take care of ourselves. We must stand up for our inner health and wellbeing first.” – Hinemoa Elder
Our inner health and wellbeing starts within us. It is our hull.
And the same goes for our rangitahi. They won’t know to check on their hull unless they see us checking on ours. And they won’t know how unless we show them. If we’re not vulnerable with them, we can’t ask them to be vulnerable with us.
Discover how to talk with your rangitahi so they’ll listen, and to listen so they’ll talk. Sign up for our zoom call on Tuesday at 7 pm here. https://my.demio.com/ref/mB4haG7vywwHxN9X
And start making the changes you want to make for yourself and your rangitahi. Because you’re the parent. and It starts with you.