Limits

I tripped upon an interesting blog post today about limits. Accepting them, or, IMHO, leaving them on the sidelines.

The post ends with this simple, but profound statement: "isn't it worse to write off a person or an organization merely because of what they are instead of what they may become."

That stopped me in my tracks for a few moments and I reflected upon my own life. In a sense, this is an indirect reason why I stopped reading parenting books (aside from the innate guilt they appear to serve) and working towards breaking the habit of saying "I can't" (whether it be myself or one of my immediate family that utters those very words). I look at myself at 15, 20, 25, 30, 35... even last week. I am not the same person. Core values and essentially me may still be the same, but experiences and thoughts are changing who I am all the time as I push forward in this thing called life. I am not the girl I once was, and I am not the mom I was when I gave birth to my first son.

I see potential everywhere - and with my rose coloured glasses, I tend to try to see the positive. I call them TSN-turning points (yes, I do love my sports, especially the contact ones) where something can pivot on a dime and go one way or the other. What if you wrote someone off in that moment? Not knowing who they could become?? An open mind may mean some disappointments but also means some really cool surprises too.

Like today. First day of Brandon's next set of swimming lessons. He is repeating the first level of Swim Tots (like most other kids, that first set has a lot of skills to master before you can move on). If I accepted limits, or figured that life was static, I would have assumed he would start off where he finished. He rocked today. I was so proud of how well he did! The instructor even commented how comfortable he is in the water, and then we played for the next hour and he was just awesome, diving live a fish and running around. Damn cool. Why would I limit what he can and cannot do?? Or for myself for that matter? How far can one go if you don't try?

I try to parent (and live) by providing as many opportunities as I can. Whether it be to pick up a paint brush, or a crayon, or to hike in the woods, or ride a horse... does it matter if you do it well as long as you tried and gave it a good go? You don't have to be the best at everything you do, you just have to try and do it to the best of your abilities. I would also add to not settle.

Well, so much for a quick post. I wax philosophical yet again. Must be something in the water.