Last week, I happened to find myself in the company of some little people (toddlers, ages 2 and 4 to be exact). Now, I have some experience with people of that age; I have children of my own, and in my teaching adventures I have worked with young ‘uns that age, and I believe, sometime going back to the age of dinosaurs, I was that age myself, so it’s not like I was being exposed to some exotic species that was a total mystery to me.
What was so interesting to me being around these little ones, was that there were 2 distinct words that I heard frequently…can you guess what they were?
I’ll give you a hint: one is the opposite of ‘yes’ and the other one has a standard answer of ‘because I said so’ or the ever popular “because God made it that way” (at least those were the answers I gave MY kids!)
Did you guess what those words were? If you said NO and WHY…then you are definitely smarter than a 5th grader;-).
The 2 year old flavor was ‘No’ and the 4 year old seemed particularly enamored of ‘Why’. Let me give you a taste:
Me: “Can you put your shoes on?” 2 year old: “No.” 4 year old: “Why do I have to put shoes on?”
Me: “OK, let’s sit crisscross applesauce.” 2 year old: “No.” 4 year old: “Why do we have to sit like that?”
I could go on, but I’m thinking you get the general idea.
And I got to wondering…when did we lose our abilities to use those words?
A kiddo’s first taste of independence is in gleefully saying “no”…over and over again. Think about it; when did you ever see a child feeling badly about saying no…I mean they positively revel in it!
And then there’s that word “why”…when is the last time you asked yourself why? Why am I doing what I’m doing? Why is my life not evolving they way I want it to? Why, why, why?
We’re taught that saying no is “bad” and that asking why doesn’t give satisfactory answers…(I mean really…how lame is “because I said so”). Answering a why question is hard and we shy away from asking questions we may not have the answers to right away.
This week be a little crazy and let your inner child out…give yourself permission to say no to a few things that you want to say no to and ask yourself why.
If you’d like support in relearning how to say no or finding your why, don’t forget that my Cravin’IT! Program is coming soon; a program combining self-study and personal coaching designed to help you Create the Life You Crave!
Be Delicious!
I think asking why is a vital way to become aware of what makes you tick. I often ask this question of myself when I write entries in my journal or when I pray/meditate.
Here’s a link to a blog post I wrote about asking why. It’s titled, From Within. Hope you enjoy! http://journalwriter.blogspot.com/2010/07/from-within.html
Be refreshed,
Dawn Herring
JournalWriter Freelance
Hi Dawn,
Thank you so much for mentioning journaling and meditating! Asking why and then writing down your answers is so important and giving yourself time to reflect and sort of ‘marinate’ in it a bit is so helpful:-)
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on asking why too! Great post:)
Be Delicious!