JOYFUL BOTTOM BOUNCING

As I reflect on my week, something that strikes me is the incredible amount of mistakes I made…and what a fortuitous ‘something’ for an experiential learner like myself!  The fact is, I learn best by doing.  Actually, I learn best by not quite being able to do.  By the time I am able to do, there’s not much more to learn about the thing I’m working on doing…in large part, because it’s done.  But let’s get down to the related question at hand, whether you do or don’t do any given thing that you’re working on doing, do you do the learning that accompanies the ‘do’ or the ‘don’t’ that you’ve done (or not done – as it were)?

I consider each one of my mistakes to be a tiny instructional gift.  A neatly wrapped, thoughtfully presented package, intended to guide me on this ongoing journey of learning and growth.  I’m not alone in that consideration either.  I’m constantly hearing my colleagues in educational leadership articulating failure as a pathway to learning, success, and achievement, and I’m seeing them model it too.  Good stuff for enhancing their lives and showing those they serve how to do the same.  Also, my one one-year-old subscribes to a “fail, fail, fail, succeed…fail, fail, fail, succeed” philosophy, and she does it just about as joyfully as anyone I’ve ever seen.  That might be the missing piece for some of us wise old adults.  This little warrior spends about as much time plopping on her bottom as she does waddling around, and she screeches with joy each time that diaper hits the dirt.  It’s as if she enjoys the challenge of getting up even more than the utility of walking.

But isn’t that the way?  Isn’t development more fun than finality?  Who wants to be done when you could still be doing?  Who wants to know when you could still be learning?  What if you were doomed to never again feel a light bulb go off above your head, or reach for a milestone, or overcome an obstacle, or stretch out after a thousand other attempts and finally grab that thing you were grasping for…stinky, to say the least!  And if I made that claim in front of my four-year-old son he would no doubt remind me that “stinky” is a potty word, and his two-year-old brother would run around the house repeating it in infinitum, but I’ll go out on a limb here, because there would also be no doubt that their little sister would be two feet away, repeatedly plopping on her bottom and screeching with joy as she got up to do it again!

That’s what I crave.  I love the joy of falling down coupled with the knowledge that I get to muster courage, and perseverance, and strength, and patience to work on getting back up.   However, for some reason, this week I didn’t meet every challenge with joy.  Maybe some of my “old guy wisdom” isn’t so wise after all.  Or, maybe I’m letting some of my “old guy worry” get in the way of my “old guy wisdom.”  Either way, this reflection is like a one-year-old’s bottom bounce.  It’s the remembering how to walk after the plop.  Will I plop again?  No doubt!  And when I do, I plan to remind myself of the joy it brings to my life, the thrill of recovering from a fall, the charge that getting up sends through my body, and the pure magic of thoughtful, reflective learning and growth.  I intend to repeatedly advise myself out of extended frustration and disappointment, while working on being more like a one-year-old.  For myself, and for those I serve, I plan to work hard at becoming an ever-more joyful bottom bouncer!

IMG_5317

Dream Big.  Work Hard.  Be Well.

4 comments

  1. Joanne Rowe

    Seth…I will remember to subscribe to the bottom bouncer club…a great way to make the concept visible!
    Funny thing…I used to think of you fondly as one of the big bouncy inflatable toys that when it was pushed, it would come right back up…it was something unique to the way you saw the world…always using each experience as a learning opportunity and a stepping stone.
    Thanks for today’s “instructional gift”.
    Thanks for sharing your thoughts–
    Best to the family!

    • bergseye

      Thanks Joanne…I love that metaphor! And I’m glad that you are finding my posts meaningful. Your input is much appreciated! Have a wonderful Week!

  2. Micki Berg PhD

    Love your metaphors. Loved this blog. Simple yet oh so profound philosophy to which I subscribe.

Post a comment

You may use the following HTML:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>