I am certain some of you have been told what you were like when you were learning to walk. There were probably many instances of falling down, picking yourself back up and so on until you mastered the art of walking.
I would like you think of two healthy children who are alike in many aspects however, in learning to walk they exhibit different tendencies. Picture, if you will, a child who has been crawling along and one day decides: “enough of this, I want to do what those big people are doing.” They pull themselves up, stand still for a few seconds and fall back down. The next time they try with a little more determination and actually stand for a minute or two before they start “walking” without assistance. With little experience, they once again end up sitting on the floor. With purpose, they push up and stand on both feet and start to walk on their own. A bit surprised, the child keeps going and all too soon their life has changed forever. They have managed to complete one of life’s most difficult challenges and did it on their own. All too soon they begin to run, explore, get into mischief and they find that life is something to enjoy without limitations. They understand they can make life as interesting and challenging and rewarding as they wish.
Now picture another child who is also fed up with crawling from place to place and decided that they also want to join the walkers of the world. Pushing up they stagger and then fall down and stay down for a time before they make another attempt. This results in them falling back down again. The crying starts; whether in anger, frustration or disappointment. What is notable is that they continue to cry until someone picks them up. At that moment they begin to depend on someone else to aid and support them with their first steps of life. Many of these children, as they go forward in life, will always look for someone to depend upon and/or blame for their constant failures. They often build a series of co-dependencies to get them through life. They will become dependent on other people and for many; they will live a life of frequent disappointment.
Look at your own life and decide which one of the above scenarios applies to you. Be honest, we can all learn from this and make modifications to ensure that we get everything out of life that we so rightly deserve.
