The Third Option

The Third Option by Dr Jyoti Hegde
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Parents and teachers can use this short story to encourage children to be self motivated.

​There was a boy named Karan. Karan's daily routine used to be like this. He had to be woken up by his mom for school, after repeated calls and shouting. Karan would then do his daily tasks like brushing his teeth, bathing, and getting ready for school very slowly. He had to be woken one hour early so that he could finish his breakfast. And finally he would walk to school like a zombie, without any life. Karan's mom had to constantly push him for studies and activities. She was worried and wanted to change his behaviour. 

​One day his grandfather visited them. He noticed that Karan lacked enthusiasm and self motivation. He called Karan and showed him three pictures. Each picture had three characters, a mom, a dad and their son walking on the road. In the first picture, the parents were pulling the child as he was resisting and trying to move in opposite direction. In the second picture, the child was walking along with the parents. In the third picture, the child was running ahead and pulling the parents. Grandpa asked Karan, "My dear child, imagine that at the end of the road there is an ice-cream parlour, a toy shop or a play zone, then which of these three pictures would you think is apt for the situation?" Karan grinned and quickly replied, "Of course Grandpa, the picture with the child running ahead and pulling his parents." Grandpa smiled. He said, "Now think that at the end of the road, there is growth, success, health and happiness and the child's parents want to take him there. Given these three situations, how do you think the child’s growth will get affected? First case - the child resists the parents. Second case - the child co-operates with parents. Third case - the child enthusiastically initiates and is self motivated. Karan thought for a while and said "Well Grandpa, in the first situation, if the child resists, he will be trying to go in the opposite direction of growth. In the second case, the child will be convinced and just follow parent's instructions but in the third case, his growth will be accelerated and he will reach his goal faster as he himself initiates it and is self motivated. Grandpa smiled at Karan as he had understood an important lesson about self motivation, the third option.