THE GIRL IN THE GLASS

THE GIRL IN THE GLASS

Elif was a miracle in the eyes of her mother and father. She wasn’t an ordinary child. Her value had been determined even before she was born. Her mother, Canan, and her father, Yusuf, had tried to have a child for six years. Those six years were spent in hospitals, treatments, prayers, and days consumed with hope.

And then…

Just when all expectations had run out, one morning they received the news: Canan was pregnant. Elif was on her way. For Canan, this was the most important news of her life—but also a great source of anxiety. Because of her past health issues, doctors had warned: “This pregnancy must be handled with extreme care.”

For someone like Canan—active, managing multiple things at once, always running out of hours in the day—spending nine months bedridden was like a punishment. But she endured it for Elif. “As long as she’s born healthy!” was her constant prayer.

And Elif was born—with tiny fingers and pale pink skin, she entered their lives like a burst of light. Canan’s maternal instincts went into full alert. Now there was one mission: Nothing should ever happen to Elif. At every cry, she was there. At every worry, she ran to the doctor. If she had even the slightest fever, Canan stayed up all night. When she started school, she didn’t take the school bus like other kids—she rode in a private taxi. Most of the time, her father dropped her off and picked her up himself. Everything was meticulously planned so she wouldn’t fall, go hungry, or get hurt.

And so, Elif grew up in a glass bubble. A pristine, sterile world, meticulously guarded so nothing could break her.

As time passed, Canan began to sense that something wasn’t quite right. As Elif approached adolescence, she began to fear the outside world. She didn’t want to walk alone, withdrew in new environments, hesitated to make decisions, and panicked even over the smallest changes.

Her teachers called Canan to school: “Elif is very intelligent, very sensitive, but also very anxious. She’s afraid to try new things. Even small social situations make her tense.”

Canan had a ready answer: “We’ve always protected her. We never let her see any trouble.”

“Maybe that’s exactly why,” the teacher replied.

That night, Canan thought long and hard. Elif had never experienced a sense of lack. She never had a hunger for safety. And so, her deep anxiety—what if I lose my mom or dad—was rooted in a fragility that life had not prepared her for. It was like the fear of hunger in someone who has never been hungry. The constant desire to stay full created a persistent anxiety in Elif.

That evening, Canan and her husband made a decision. Elif would walk to school by herself—just a short distance from home. There were objections, tears—but it was final.

As Elif walked to school alone for the first time, her mother secretly followed her like a stealth aircraft. Just two steps out the door, Elif slipped and fell. Her knees were scraped. But she got up, bit her lip, sniffled, and kept walking to school. Canan stayed behind. She didn’t run to help her.

As parents, it was incredibly hard to pull back after being so involved. But they didn’t go back on their decision. They were doing this for Elif’s own good.

That evening, Elif smiled: “I went alone. And I came back.” “Were you scared?” “Yes. But it passed.” “Did it hurt?” “Yes. But it passed.” “What did you learn?” “I can protect myself!”

Canan cried in that moment—but not from fear, from surrender. The protective love she had given her daughter had become a shell. But now, Elif had stepped outside that shell for the first time. Canan realized something important that day, albeit a little late: one of the best ways to raise a child is to allow them to fall. Sometimes, you must let them fear, feel inadequate, or even get lost…

Elif had never experienced hunger for safety. She had never thought about how to protect herself. The unknown world outside terrified her. The more she was protected, the more anxious and tense she became in the face of the unknown. What her well-meaning parents failed to realize was this: whatever is made complete prematurely only creates deeper voids later. It is not always presence, but absence that teaches. It is the lack that speaks.

Now it was time for Canan to watch Elif from a distance—and patiently allow her to mend the cracks herself. Because it was time for the girl in the glass to break her shell.

 

Since the beginning of humanity, Our greatest friend and enemy has remained the same: The person in the mirror...

"Experiential Design Teaching" is dedicated to help humans discover their true purpose. It guides people toward open consciousness to make better decisions and choices. It offers strategies for real solutions to real problems.

The programs that begin with “Who’s Who,” followed by “Mastery in Relationships” and “The Psychology of Success,” aim to help people become happier and more successful compared to their past selves.