Perhaps it was the wisdom of Pollyanna or maybe Mary Poppins that I absorbed as a young girl. Those almost heroic characters always searching for "something to be glad about" or finding "an element of fun in every job that must be done..."
I don't know about you, but from the time I reached those years of teenage angst until, well, pretty much now, my life has presented me with some rather difficult trials to navigate. Times when I've felt as though I'm standing on the ocean's shoreline, the tide is rolling in and I'm getting knocked down by wave after wave. Each time I pop up and catch my breath - wham - another one comes along and takes my feet out from under me.
In those periods when I would surface and a stretch of calm would follow, I began to hope that there might at least be some sort of pay off for surviving the various trials I was being challenged with. So I started to look for something good or positive that I could take from each experience.
And by consciously looking, I found it.
Lo and behold, there was always at least one lesson I could tuck away, or there would be a sense of gratitude for something I was either given or spared. For instance, maybe I learned it's best to always drive myself in my own car, so I'm not stuck in an uncomfortable situation. Or, my newborn needs surgery but thankfully her condition is not life threatening.
I used this tool all the time with my three girls when they were growing up. Sometimes it worked and sometimes, being kids, they responded with "yeah, yeah, yeah - we know!" (I believe they have all stopped rolling their eyes at me about it.) But the practice always worked for me.
Little Miss M had her first encounter with my tool this past Sunday. We were in my office and she was turning a table lamp on and off. I cautioned her that the light bulb becomes very hot, that I was turning it off and that she mustn't touch it.
I'm sure you've all guessed where this is heading...
Yes, she touched it. And it hurt! I hurried her into the kitchen and we put the now painful finger under cold running water. As we stood there, I asked M if she thought she might want to listen to Grandmom the next time she told her to do something. She nodded, agreeing with me fully and stating, "Yeah, I think you're right, Grandmom." A lesson learned! She then went on to apologize to me. But I said she didn't need to, that she hadn't hurt me, just herself. I also said that I was very glad she thought it would be a good idea to do what I tell her from now on.
We'll see how long that lasts.....
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