A Two-year-old’s Guide To Life :)
My two-year-old has recently got into doing jigsaw puzzles… he loves them!
I had to help him at first, but now he can do a few (small) puzzles on his own.
Every now and then, however, he’ll struggle to fit a piece in, and he has a big old temper tantrum.
He breaks up the whole puzzle, and spreads the pieces across the floor in frustration.
(Thus undoing all the work he’s done so far… but he doesn’t seem interested in this fact ;)
At this point I help him put the pieces back together, and say to him gently:
“Calm down. Let’s try again. One piece at a time.
Just take it slow.”
And it struck me, as I was saying this for the fifteenth time the other day, that this is actually a good guide to life!
Let’s take a look…
Calm down.
Breathe. And another deep breath.
Try again.
We all fall down… you decide if you get back up again or not.
One piece at a time.
How many of us are trying to work out and succeed at our job and be a good partner/ friend and do fun things and save up for that trip and learn a new skill and be a better human all round… and many, many other things, all at the same time!
It’s great to have these goals. But focus on one thing at a time.
Take it slow.
We’re all on our own path. So what if people are “ahead” of you? They’re on their path, and you’re on yours.
And I’ll bet yours is much more “right” for you.
That’s it really.
Deep, philosophical musings, from a 12-piece puzzle :)
Breathe.
Have another go.
One thing at a time.
Take it slow.
What are some of your life mantras? Or what have you learned from the simple things?
Love,
Claire
Claire O’Connor is an accountability coach and writer, working with people who need motivation and structure or who feel lost and stuck. She helps people prioritize their tasks and make progress.
