Your Turn: Imagining the end goals
Before you peek at the list of healthy adult characteristics I am about to give you, see what you come up with on your own. Can you derive your own list of healthy adult characteristics? Close your eyes and think of someone in your life whom you truly respect and admire. The person can be anyone: your spouse; a parent; your mother-in-law; a teacher; a celebrity; or even Mr. Darcy. What are the characteristics of this person that you so respect and admire? Open your eyes and jot them down.
Now close your eyes again and think of someone who has a satisfying marriage and a group of friends he or she feels close to. Again, make some notes about the characteristics of this person.
One last time; close your eyes and think of someone who seems satisfied with their life and their accomplishments. Finally, add his or her characteristics to the list you are compiling.
What do you think of your list? Have you captured many of the qualities you would like your son or daughter to possess when they are grown? Okay, now you have permission to peek at the “answers”, or rather, a list of healthy adult characteristics* compiled via clinical observation and empirical research. I suspect it will be similar to your list. That’s what we psychologists do; confirm what our grandmothers would have called “good common sense”.
* List can be found in Website Roadmap on the Main Menu.