There’s a bit of urban folklore that says that life’s lessons will be repeated until they are learned. I firmly believe this, but am not a big fan of the concept when that means that painful lessons will be repeated to me if I fail to take from them what I am supposed to the first time around. Or the second. Or third.
So, I do try to pause when I am in pain and learn what I should from the lesson so that I do not need to repeat it. This technique has served me quite well.
I would like to use this Blog for two purposes – one, to keep myself ‘honest,’ in that if I write the learned lessons down, they will be tougher to forget, and two, to share my experiences with others so they could possibly save themselves a painful experience or two.
I don’t mean that you won’t have to go through the painful experience yourself, but that you may not have to go through it a third or fourth time, if perhaps you read this and recognize situations you’ve already seen yourself. And, for a few fortunate people who have acquired the ability to learn from other people’s mistakes, a few of you will be saved the initial pain if you correct your behavior BEFORE the lesson gets presented to you.
I was very fortunate to be born with 5 great-grandparents alive. I was 28 years old when I lost my last one, so I was quite blessed with being able to learn from their experiences, their role modeling, and their stories. I also had all four of my biological grandparents when I was born and I did not lose my first one until I was married and almost 33 years old. At 37 years of age, I still had the other three. At 43, I still have one.
However, with the 2001 passing of my dad’s mother, who was my primary sounding board, I see myself as having moved up a generation, despite that my husband and I will not have children. I see this as a time in my life for acting like a grandparent – mentoring young people, planning for the future of the children in my extended family and on the planet, and trying to pass on the lessons that I’ve learned myself and those that I have learned from all those who have been kind enough to share.
I will try to do that here and I welcome any feedback you might have. Class is in session!
