What I Learned From My Five Year Old
Written by Alex Marlin on November 15, 2007 – 1:25 am -I have a little story I would like to share with you today, and it is something I learned while observing my five year old. It is a great lesson that we forget once we feel that we are grown up. Don’t take that statement lightly, because we are never grown up enough to not learn something from someone else. Just shows you that even a little kid can teach us, if we would only pay attention.
My little five year old came home one day and she had a party bag in her hand. She got in the house and started to unpack her party bag, it had some candies, a juice, some cookies and a skipping rope. She asked me if I would teach her to skip. Well, I got up and told her that you have to try and skip on your own, because this rope is too short for me. And I said that this rope isn’t any good for skipping. I asked my bigger daughter if she would help us and she came across, and together we tried to show her how to skip.
It just wasn’t working, my elder daughter said the same thing; “This rope isn’t good for skipping.” My daughter got mad and started to cry, she said we didn’t want to teach her. I honestly felt real bad, but I just didn’t bother to try and teach her, because I was honestly convinced that this rope was no good.
About fifteen minutes later, I saw her trying to skip with this rope, I did as if I wasn’t watching, she was moving from room to room trying to skip. My elder daughter said, that she was annoying her and she wasn’t even listening to what I just said about the rope not being good enough.
I told her to leave her alone, she will get tired and give up after a while, I then told my daughter that I would go and buy her a more firmer skipping rope tomorrow. She just did as if no one was there, and continued to try. I can’t tell you exactly for how long this went on, because we were not paying any attention to her anymore. We were actually ignoring her.
All I saw was my daughter moving forward towards the living room, she looked at me and said: Daddy, look…
My daughter took that rope and was jumping for life, she was skipping, and I was counting, she made 11 jumps without getting tangled. I was happy to see that, but she was even happier, she came over to me and I said, your skipping, give me a hug and a kiss.
What did you learn from that story?
The benefit of being a good observer is that you learn things from life while others don’t seem to picture those simple life lessons. Don’t go about your life not observing what is happening around you, there are lesson everywhere that you can learn from, learn to spot the positive things in your life. Do the same, as I did with my five year old. It can be a lesson from a grown up another child or anyone else, pay attention and truly listen and learn as you observe your life through a new lens.
Children don’t know failure, they don’t know how to quit. You, on the other hand give up just before you see success. My daughter taught me that I didn’t believe in her, and she proved me wrong. That is the way you should look at life. Prove others wrong when they don’t believe in you. Only you can decide how much you want to be successful. And, no matter what happens, just don’t give up and go with such determination as a five year old and do exactly what it is you wanted to do but has been putting off, because you were afraid to fail.
My daughter showed me that it isn’t important if who thinks you will fail or not, what is important is that you don’t believe in failure and that you will have to work harder than anyone else to get what you want. She was so convinced, she would learn to skip, that she kept at it until she did. I honestly didn’t think she could have learned how to skip with that rope. The most important point here is that you have to stop listening to others who are telling you that you can’t. Only you can decide if you can or can’t, and if you live with the option in your head that you can’t fail unless you quit. Then I don’t see how it will be possible for you to fail at whatever you attempt to achieve.
So my question to you is: Why do you quit before you are successful?
Tags: failure is not option, how to become successful, what you can learn form a child
Posted in Behavioral Concepts, Communication, Love, Personal Honesty and Openness, Personal Improvement Tips |
November 16th, 2007 at 12:21 am
I agree with you 100% on this post.
I really liked the story on how your five year old daughter kept on trying until she got it right.
The children are a good example that if you block all the negative vibes around you, the closer you will get to what you want. I don’t think that it’s about not knowing about defeat, but having in your mind that you won’t stop until it’s done.
Hope your daughter continues to never give up, and always keep trying.
About your question: I will answer this is my own form. I can’t speak for everyone for I don’t know their reason for quitting.
But if I should quit before reaching success it’s because I don’t know how close I am, and that I don’t want the success as bad enough I thought.
It would because I only settle for less, and wouldn’t see the bigger picture in life.
Nice post Alex!
November 16th, 2007 at 1:56 am
Thanks for the response Success.
Yes, I do agree with you that many times we settle for less and fail to see the big picture. Many of us stop just before the finish line, because we did not have the end in sight.
Kids, on the other hand tries to prove what they can do and they let no one stop them from doing just that.
As for my daughter, I will continue to push her, as I did and still do with her brother and sister. And I do hope she continues to shine. I like her determination and her bold authoritative ways.
And your right about quitting because we have no clue how close we are to achieving success. Success is measured by what you want, and that is why you should know what you want before attempting to accomplish your goal.