Teen happiness is no joke, folks!
Teen happiness is serious business, people! It’s kind of like making out with someone special while riding a unicycle. It's doable but tricky, people! Anyway, it’s important to help teens have more happiness, creating positive things and preventing negative things from messing up their lives. Be like a gardener, but instead of gardening plants and whatnot, you’re gardening for teens by helping their lives grow more positively.
Imagine teen happiness like a secret sauce that makes for a full-bodied, emotionally tough, stress-killing human being – at least, after tripping on her shoelaces down the high-school hallway. Now let’s see, what’s the secret to happiness stew? A pinch of belonging. A sprinkling of a caring mum and supportive others. A drizzle of effort when it leads to accomplishment. A healthy serving of physical health. A warm home. A couple of good, close friends. A helping or two of positive activities. After all of that, what’s left? The well-adjusted adolescent casserole.
But best of all: deep parental involvement is the mysterious cinnamon sprinkled on top. Just empathise, listen well, love unconditionally and offer good advice and support – and above all, strike that fine balance of letting them find their own way while offering some guidance along the road. It’s the art of being a great, overbearing life coach.
Making your home a supportive place is like providing your teen with a soft, warm nest in which she feels safe, respected and appreciated… that is, a cozy house with open communication, family game nights and, perhaps, less sugary but still more mood-enhancing than a plate of hot cookies.
And please help them build a healthy peer landscape. Guide them in social-skills 101, pick the good apples from the bad, and give them a nudge toward potlucks where they can feel like IC-belonging.
So, yes, cultivating and helping teens reach their highest level of happiness is somewhat like them trying to juggle several happiness balls while riding a unicycle – difficult but totally doable! Our teens need us – their life coaches, happiness gardeners, and ‘nest builders’ to help them become truly happy and well-screened.
I have almost 16 year old b/g twins. I am living the teen dream!
