Note to Self: Relax

What makes me do what I do and think what I think and feel what I feel? Every time I try to figure one of those things out, it spins up a lovely frustration in my mind. Does anyone really know?

Early Monday morning, I'll be leaving for a Boy Scout camp. Twelve and thirteen year old boys are deceptively simple. A primary motivation for them is impressing each other, usually by making the others laugh, frequently at their leaders' expense. It's a simple motivation. The deceptive part is that there are so many other things going on in their heads that I'll never know or understand.

So how do you deal with kids like that? I'll let you know when I figure it out. I guess what I'm thinking is that if I don't even know what makes me tick, I've no hope of deciphering the early adolescent mind. Especially since each one is unique.

There are no formulas and no hard rules. You've just got to take things as they come, correct yourself when you're wrong, correct them when they're wrong, and do your best at figuring out which is which. You try to understand people, and sometimes you do. When you don't, it's not a calamity. Don't get frustrated—especially when it's yourself you don't understand.

Note to Self:  Relax, Ben. Nobody's perfect. Nothing goes completely as planned.

This applies to, oh, pretty much life in general.

Comments

  1. Melanie StanfordJune 24, 2011 at 10:49 AM

    That's a good message. And it's always important to remember that when we don't understand someone or why they do what they do- to still have patience with them, and not to judge. That's something I have to remind myself of often.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kayeleen HamblinJune 24, 2011 at 10:52 AM

    Are you the scoutmaster? That's my husband's job and he agrees with your assessment of 12-13 year old boys.

    Thanks for the reminder to relax. It's hard to remember when things are going wrong left and right, but really, what choice do you have? Be miserable? I'll take relax, please.

    ReplyDelete

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