Hey! What’s This About Wimpification?

Yesterday I read an article regarding actual government legislation in Florida regulating the apparently ghastly practice of dying baby chicks in celebration of Easter.  Ahh.The controversial baby chick legislation. Avoiding the general debate about how our paid politicians are spending their time, I averted my eyes and moved on, in search of more meaningful news to follow.

Behold.  President Obama apparently made a sweetly protective comment about his imaginary son who probably would never be allowed to play any hypothetical game of football because the sport is becoming noticeably increasingly dangerous.  And while that story in itself isn’t particularly noteworthy, it provided the impetus for an editorial titled THE WIMPIFICATION OF AMERICA, creating the second time this word has appeared to me in less than a week.  Shirley, this must be a sign! 🙂

So by the power of suggestion, wimpification is my word of the day.  I have now added it to my Word spell check.  As the slightly more aggressive and accusatory big brother to the growling, tree-house password NO WIMPS ALLOWED, this idea is more of a warning than a criterion. The question however is not whether football is too dangerous for our children, but rather: Is the headline true?  Let’s see.

Is America becoming wimpified?

A mom wimpifies her son by overprotecting him from having to make his own way, and picking up after him, and not introducing him to his own bootstraps.  A dad wimpifies his daughter by not fueling her to say NO, being being flimsy in his values, and forgetting to teach her to manage her own finances.

Endless misplaced handouts wimpify. Charitable generosity notwithstanding.

Earning what we’re worth. Working hard to earn. Doing the job we’re strong enough to do and being strong enough to do the job.  Dreaming, Inventing and being invigorated by the journey. That’s an Unwimpified America.

Don’t play football if you’ve got any reservations about getting hit.  There are other games you should play.

But if you dream of playing football, play it! (Don’t worry about the President’s opinion on this one.) And make sure you’ve prepared yourself in heart, mind and body to take the hit and compete well.

One of a parent’s jobs is to create an environment where our children will learn to be successful as independent contributors in a fruitful society of many motivated contributors.  Creativity, Innovation, Motivation, Bravery.  These are the things that are squashed when we try to flatten everything out with a spatula.

Whether it’s football or economics we all know the benefit of healthy competition.  It scares me to think of America as a wimpy country, afraid of the very battles that ignited our origin.

but is it true?

Here’s a Great Piece on Unification … not wimpification.