“Life… is like the changing seasons.” ~ Jim Rohn

This renowned business philosopher went on to say that “you cannot change the seasons, but you can change yourself.”

Life gets better, not by chance but by change. And changing yourself is intentional.

Jim Rohn taught four major lessons in life to learn. I have adapted the lessons in the seasons to reflect the life and feelings of the parent of a dyslexic child.

1. Learn how to handle the Winter.

• The disappointment comes when you realize your child is not learning as you expected.
• In the early years, as your child struggles with the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten material, and homework takes hours instead of minutes, learn to be patient, tolerant, and encouraging, in spite of your feelings of helplessness and fear.
• Some winters are short, others are long. Some are easy, others are hard.
• Your child’s struggles and your levels of hope will fluctuate in a similar manner.
• You can get stronger, wiser, and better at helping your child build his deficient skills.

2. Learn how to take advantage of the Spring.

• Spring is a time of opportunity, and it follows winter.
• When your child gets assessed and identified as dyslexic, a world of opportunities opens up to you and him.
• Opportunity always follows difficulty, and you must take advantage of it.
• Planting happens in the spring.
• Take this time to help your child discover his strengths and encourage him to use them to offset his weaknesses.

3. Learn how to protect your crops all Summer.

• You have to take care of what you start. As soon as you plant in the spring, the bugs and weeds come out to take over.
• You must learn to protect your child’s self-awareness and self-confidence so outsiders (teachers, family members, friends) do not destroy him with their criticism and negativism about his weaknesses.
• Remember that everything that is good will be attacked, so when you try novel ways to help your child, expect to be attacked.
• Keep in mind that all values must be defended. In other words, your garden (child) must be tended for the entire summer.

4. Learn how to reap in the Fall without complaint.

• Take full responsibility for what happens to your child’s learning and education.
• Accept the results of your efforts to empower your child…without apology if he succeeds, and without complaint, if he doesn’t do as well as you expected.
• Don’t blame a lack of supplies, programs, negative teachers, or cynical teachers.
• It’s not what happens that determines the quality of your and your child’s life. You have no control over what happens. You did not determine that your child should have dyslexia.
• It is what you do that changes everything.

Will the next five years be like the last five?

The choice is yours.

Any day you choose, you can change your child’s life.

If you don’t like his results at school. Change it!

In previous blog posts, I’ve given lots of ways to change your child’s results by building his foundational learning skills. Use them.

As Jim would say, “Don’t wish it were easier. Wish you were better.”

So, starting tomorrow, what are you going to do that will make a difference in your life and your child’s life?