Teens’ Emotional Needs

If you’ve read A Father and Son Bond Down Under (/http://adventuredad.org/446/adventures/a-father-and-son-bond-down-under/), you were treated to a dad who knew his son needed emotional support and a change in his thinking.  The need to accomplish and conquer is pretty much hard wired into males and the young teen it particularly vulnerable to feeling like a failure.  Fortunately for Isaac, Darren was there to sense the moment and teach his son a really important lesson.  Success and failure isn’t about reaching the goal, it’s about pushing past your fears and giving it a try.  When counseling young teen males who are struggling with working up the courage to ask a girl out, I remind them to focus on the ask and not the response (i.e.: their fear of rejection).  You are successful if you ask, an affirmative response is just icing on the cake.  If you don’t ask, there is no way you will ever get a “yes”!