Three Things We Can Learn from a 3-Year-Old

There are few things that allow a person to pause for a moment and really understand that they are still learning.

It's like a piece of clarity washes over the brain and you see that you are not actually teaching the three year old to build blocks, you are being taught EVERYTHING about life while a future decision maker plays with simple foam blocks.

How many times must we BUILD? How many times will we allow someone to bust down our hard work just so we can build again and again, only a little better next time so it won't get knocked over? When can life just be easy where you don't have to worry about our creative dreams being smashed?

What can we learn from a three year old who's been labeled as non-wanted, a little one floating through life with her younger sister just barely, and almost exactly twelve months difference who would otherwise go unseen if not seen by me? What can we take away from a simple interaction of building foam blocks with this young person?

1. Patience.

Each and every time the young girl would build this wonderful wall of colorful blocks, someone would come over and knock them down. This took her about three hours to not tear up over it. Thirty minutes, each time more determined than the last to build a beautiful wall and no matter what, someone, whether it was her sister, or a little boy, the wall was sure to be blasted into oblivion. She looks at her teacher, the assigned protector for the eight hours that her caregiver was away, and the teacher had no choice but to reassure that next time, it will be better. We have to take some breaths when we are angry, not hit, not yell, not stomp around, roll on the floor, no fits... we have to behave. So be patient with yourself and others because we are all living moment by moment and experiencing our own lessons. We are learning from teachers everywhere, making us forever the student.

2. Resilience

Each time the house, the wall, or the giant shapes made by the blocks would fall, the time between crying for her creations shortened. The tears soon stopped coming and as it was time to put the blocks away she reminded herself that next time, perhaps, she would be rewarded with seeing the completion of her project and finally getting the praise she has long deserved for building such great masterpieces. Whenever that day was, she would save her joy for then, because blocks are her jam! By building this muscle, she found her toughness and proceeded to "do her." Her happiness is important to her and she will for sure be happy one way or another. It's important we don't sacrifice our own happiness for the sake of another person's hurt. Even though someone knocks you down, we must continue to carry on and try again regardless of the outcomes we've experienced.

3. Perseverance

Just keep going. No matter how many people get in our way of a goal, no matter how many times we are knocked down and get back up, we need to keep walking the path we choose. Even if we know destruction is ahead, even when people laugh in our face from our misfortunes, staying determined is important for sanity. The tears will dry and as they do, we rebuild, we restructure ourselves and our foundations sometimes uprooting ourselves and moving to establish a safer place to build. To move forward as a stronger person is a lesson of a lifetime.

The teacher is taught by the student and can learn in so many other instances when present and relating to ourselves in child form. Be nice to yourself and treat yourself as if you were a child.