Linda’s prompt was to use the title of the book we’re currently reading to inspire our post. I was glad she didn’t ask for a review or anything, cause I’m only on the fourth chapter.
This prompt gave me deja vu.
The first thing that came to mind was the side mirror on the car.
It’s the lessons that struck me the most. We probably all have things that come naturally to us, our own aptitude in some areas may exceed the ability of others who work at it. Gifts.
But most of what we do in life, we’ve had to practice.
I remind you of babies with plastic spoons.
I see this all the time with my kids. Every time they begin something new, there’s an inundation of stress. Every time, I give an example from early childhood.
“Moo Moo, I remember when you’d hunt and peck messages to your daddy overseas. Look at you type now.”
I remember when Bubba was twelve and he made macaroni and cheese soup. When he was fifteen and put the takeout container in the oven, plastic and all. This same guy talked to me last night about steaming veggies and grilling meat. This same guy bakes scones and talks about the complexity of teas.
The best lessons are not assigned to us, they’re the ones we find on our own.
Stream of Consciousness Saturday — SoCs ‘book title’ is brought to you by LindaGHill
joeyfullystated 
what a heart warmer this was, Joey! I love a man who knows his way around the kitchen.
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Thanks, Lois — that’s very kind 🙂
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I think you’re right. We get frustrated sometimes because kids seem to have to learn things the hard way, but so proud when they figure something out.
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I’m glad you agree.
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What sweet moments to share; thank you!
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Thanks, Sunny 🙂
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‘The best lessons are not assigned to us, they’re the ones we find on our own.’
The title of the book I’m reading is ‘Mastering Amazon Ads.’ And boy, has it been work – with no success in sight yet, but quite a bit of mastery has happened by learning to run my own experiments.
That and figuring out California retirement communities (ie, can we afford one).
And making sure my sketchy research on northern India (for Book 2) was actually usable and made some sense to go along with the plot.
Plus looking into selling and For Sale By Owner (did it once, 35 years ago).
So much on the plate – and having this body pull tricks on me, post stents (thank goodness we were back to the new normal today – I’m really trying not to become a hypochondriac!). Sometimes I spend my 35 min naps just breathing to dump the stress. At least it works. Done two already, third coming up.
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I concur with just resting is helpful when dealing with stress. There are plenty of times I lie down just to breathe and quiet my mind. I’m so glad today was a new normal day for you, and I wish you continued improvement.
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I remember putting plastic in the oven as a kid. I also remember doing that within the past year, so some of us ain’t learning 😉
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Yeah? Hmm. But I bet you’ve learned other stuff, and you can keep practicing on oven-appropriate cookware 😉
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We’ve come further than we realize until we think about where we came from. So says my stream of consciousness response. I just love how you talk to your kids.
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Thanks 🙂
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I think most parents have anecdotes about their kids and their search for independence. Some funny some painful. All of them heart warming. Thanks for sharing yours.
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My pleasure 🙂
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Joey, excellent way to both reassure and compliment your children in just a few sentences. And we all, no matter our age, have to deal with stress when we start something new, especially if some distance out of our comfort zone. We would do well to remember your advice to your children.
janet
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I don’t want to learn to do things, I just want to be able to do them immediately. That’s my problem. I’m too impatient, and give up too easily. I remember trying to learn to jump rope! My gosh that was hard for me to learn…and I’m still not sporty! haha … 🙂
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I’m reading “The Paradox of Love” (Pascal Bruckner) as research with the intent of posting on the topic, not the book (did two posts). You and Linda got me a-thinkin’. I could do a post of highlights and quotes from the book (ones I found interesting). I shall ponder this. My blog is feeling neglected.
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I love the last line.
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Thank you.
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This one hit home, Joey. Excellent points all around.
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I’m glad, Laura, thanks.
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This reminds of a term in the book I’m reading… FIFO..”figure it the f* out”. It’s really about learning through self-motivation. I think those lessons that we stumble upon are the ones deeply remembered. On a light note, when I was 19,I was a Nanny for a coworker’s children while she was on a cruise. Having not grown up with a dishwasher, I did not know there was a special soap. You can guess the rest…and I never made that mistake again! 🙂
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Oh yes. I know two people who’ve done that in the last few years, and only one of them was young. Not knowing is not knowing. These things happen.
FIFO is pretty awesome. So much of life is like that.
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Lessons learned are the best. But I sometimes wonder about people who insist on not learning because it’s too much bother. Missing out on life, I say.
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I have these same kinds of moments with Sloane, granted she’s only nine and a smidge from being ten, but I completely understand where you are coming from!
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You are always so timely. Just yesterday evening my son tried to make microwave popcorn…by putting the bag into the convection oven! (He’d lost microwave privileges this week due to inappropriate microwave behavior. I’ll leave it to your imagination to wonder what he was getting up to with it.)
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I loved this post, top to bottom and the layers in-between. It was a precious reminder to us all, find out own bliss, don’t need directions, just plain old following our inner voice. Perfectly expressed in your own great closing line.
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Thank you so much.
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