The obstacle becomes the way.
Marcus Aurelius
Like most humans, my children like their routines.
Their preferred method to get to school in the mornings is in our Kia, lovingly named “Klara” by my son. Imagine their dismay when the first day of school rolled around this week and Klara couldn’t take them!
It turns out the our Kia had a dead battery, meaning that we had to drive our (much more comfortable) sedan the two miles to school, completely messing up their mental plans. (I know I know, spoiled kids…)
When plans change, we have a choice to either fight the current, or find new shores.
After some minor bickering and reshuffling of backpacks and lunch bags, we were off to school in our other car with minimal fuss.
When we lead by example and our children see us rolling with life’s punches, they learn to do the same.
In Scouts, we learned early-on how to look at our resources, and our objectives, and plan accordingly. I used the time in the car to explain what a battery does and that, just like in their flashlights, a car battery can die too. The next day, I built on this knowledge and showed my 5 year old daughter how to jump-start a car.
We pulled the jumper cables out together, and she watched me connect positive to positive, negative to negative, turn on the sedan, then turn on the Kia. On our way to school, she recited every single step to her brother in correct order. (Next week, we’re changing tires!)
We can find much growth and happiness when we look for the opportunities that life presents us, rather than lamenting the obstacles in our way.