My son recently learned to crawl. It was amazing. My wife and I marveled at how much our baby boy had grown. Not long after our celebration, we noticed my son start to grab on furniture and attempt to stand.
This was crazy.
Our little man could barely move on four limbs and he got the bright idea to attempt standing on two.
As he worked to pull himself up, he rolled on his side. Failing to reach the standing position. Then immediately after rolling, he started another attempt to pull up on the sofa. He failed this attempt as well.
No matter how many tries it took. My son worked to find the limits of his range of motion and exceed them.
How did my wife and I respond to my son’s failed efforts at standing?
We gave our boy a hug and kiss and encouraged him to try again. In doing this, we didn’t know what day our son would stand and walk. We just knew that he was on the path.
In these past few months, I’ve learned a lot about fatherhood and being a better human being. I would like to share 4 lessons that resonated with me.
1. Time is Irrelevant
When will a baby walk? Does it matter?
No one will ever tell a baby to stop trying to walk. We know that children have an innate ability to walk, and it will reveal itself when the time is right. Some children walk before others, but ultimately they all get to be mobile.
If we have this kind of patience for a child, why don’t we have this patience for ourselves? Every human being has the capacity for more. To do more. See more. Be more than they were yesterday. Yet, we stunt our growth because we don’t think we are making progress.
The fact is you are making progress. You may not be moving as fast as your peers, and that’s ok. You’ll get to your dream in your own time.
2. Curiosity as a Catalyst for Growth
Babies are very curious. Flashing lights, strange sounds, scratchy fabric, and funny faces all prompt infants to explore. The catch is that infants don’t always have the skills to explore their environments. Does that stop them?
No. They learn skills, as they need them.
I would even say the drive for exploration causes the skill to develop.
As adults, we tend to suppress our natural curiosity. We have pre-installed scripts in our head that explain the world to us, and make the strange blessings of the world seem ordinary. This is a lie. There are opportunities to embrace strange and curious things every day. It’s only through noticing these things that we propel ourselves forward and start to develop our untapped potential.
3. Pain is a Ruthless Instructor
With standing comes a new risk. Falling.
Crawling low to the ground has a certain safety that is not realized until you change your vantage point. The fall is an inevitable part of learning to walk. You must figure out, how much weight to carry in each leg, how to move your arms, and how to change direction. The limits of each lesson are learned through pain.
Pain every time a knee scrapes the ground. Pain every time you bump your elbow. And pain every time your head hits the ground.
If it wasn’t for this feeling, we wouldn’t know what our limits are. And we wouldn’t know when we have surpassed our limits.
Pain is not an evil restraint. It is a ruthless instructor guiding us to a stronger version of ourselves.
4. A Good Mentor is a Hidden Treasure
Where would my son be without my wife and me?
He probably would have fallen multiple times, hurt his head, or broke a hip. We’ve managed to prevent that. We’ve also managed to help his motor skills grow faster.
How?
We manage his daily schedule, eliminate screen time and give him lots of stimulation. These guides we’ve placed in his daily schedule help him to move in the right direction without even knowing it.
A good mentor can do the same for us. They provide light into the dark areas of our lives, so that we can avoid costly mistakes. Our development is accelerated with mentorship. A mentor guides us in comfort. Instead of us fumbling in pain.
Conclusion
The lessons we learn in early life are repeated as we grow older. Give yourself grace. The same grace you would give a child learning to walk.
Success may take 1000 tries. The attempts don’t matter, as long as you stay on the path.
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