It's All Good

I sometimes worry that Molly's expectations for herself are too high. It's not that I think that high expectations are a bad thing, but I am concerned about the self imposed pressure Molly puts on herself, as a result. And it's because it is self imposed is why II get concerned. She doesn't always recognize and accept that her stress and worry is unnecessary.

She had a Forensics meet yesterday and participated in the Extemporaneous field. It is very difficult to do well in that event because you don't know ahead of time what the question to answer will be, so it's extremely hard to be practiced and prepared. If she consumes information from various sources on various topics she'll be well informed enough to do well. But it's not like having a prepared piece that can be committed to memory and well rehearsed beforehand.

Shouldn't the fact that she medaled in an event that is difficult be enough for her, even if it wasn't a first, second, or third place finish? I worry that pressure to excel, even in the face of doing good work, will cause her to become discouraged and potentially lose interest in activities she thinks she should ace. I want her to do as well as she can, but I also want her to realize that sometimes her best will not be as good as someone else's best. That doesn't mean she shouldn't try or shouldn't participate, but I know she doesn't want to fail.

I know that when she gets older she will look back on these trials and tribulations and wonder why she let herself get so torqued. But it's easy to look back and know how things really were. It's more difficult, but infinitely more rewarding, when you can recognize what's happening at the time. And that's going to have to come with time....and experience.