If you were to do a quick Google search on teens taking ownership of their lives, you would get pages full of results that talk about accountability. Sadly, being accountable for their actions is really only a part of what taking ownership of their lives should be about, albeit an important part, but there’s more. Consider what it means, for example, to own a car.
Yes, you are responsible for the care of that vehicle and being a responsible driver, but the fact is you own that car. You can sell it, trade it, dump it, repaint it, put any kind of mods on it or whatever. The point is, you can make it your own – a statement of who you are, and so it is with your life. This is what teens need to know about taking ownership of their lives, so let’s look at some ways we can help them learn to do just that. We’ll get to accountability in a moment.
Your Past Doesn’t Define You
This is something that some teens may have trouble with. Teens in foster care, for instance, who may have been severely neglected or abused can come to you mired in the pain of the past. Sometimes when placed in foster care they feel ‘less than.’ Whether they are teens entering the system through thefca.co.uk in Devon or those who are placed by the local authorities, they often have a hard time adjusting to a life in which they matter.
Often, they may be in need of counselling to help them work through all that suffering they endured but you, as a loving foster parent, can help them see that their life is a canvas, and they can paint it however they want. They own this life, so paint it carefully.
The Next Step Is Accountability
With some teens, you will need to tread carefully, but they still need to learn that they will be held accountable for their actions and decisions in this life. As with that canvas, they are painting, they get to choose the colours and brushes and the pictures they want to create.
However, if they suddenly get angry and take the biggest brush dipped in black, smearing the picture to the point of being unrecognizable, this is what some of our actions will do to our lives. By taking ownership of their life, they can choose to make it a lovely picture or something that will draw the wrong kind of attention. Being accountable means owning what they’ve chosen to do.
That’s the Bottom Line
With all that said, the bottom line means that by owning their lives they can create the life they want to live. Sometimes it will be an uphill battle, but they can paint their future. They may run into obstacles but there is no shortcut. Instead of looking for ways to cut corners, they should focus on the beauty that lies ahead. Every struggle makes them stronger.
However, by enduring those battles they will eventually reach their destination. That’s what it means to take ownership of their lives. It means knowing where they want to go and making healthy choices to get there. That’s ownership in a nutshell.
