you earned that lesson

As I watch our two year-old, Waverly,  discover new things every day, I find that I often have to stop myself from jumping in and preventing her from experiencing something negative. (Caveat: obviously if she was in danger, I would moves faster than I ever have.) If I tell her not to drop her cookie in a puddle and she does, she has learned a lesson: We don't eat food that drops into a puddle. In the future (hopefully) she'll think twice before she dangles her chocolate chip cookie over a puddle. She tore the back page from one of her music pages when I told her to be gentle and the wire connection broke. No more music.

As a parent, it's hard to take a pause and let your child learn lessons. You want to prevent them from hurting at all costs. However, by stepping in all the time, they aren't learning how to navigate the world safely, in their own way. I want her to know that as her parents, as well as other people who love her, we will be by her side. We have her back always but I also know that she needs to learn things firsthand. There are consequences to actions.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately because it doesn't feel normal to stand aside and watch her take the steps without holding my hand but I know that if I coddle her, that she won't take the necessary paths to growth.

I look back at some of the greatest lessons I learned and they didn't happen during happy times. The moments that I was scared or anxious or angry changed me. I learned not to say things in the heat of the moment. I learned that when everything seemed like it was falling apart around me, that I was actually stronger than I thought I was.

If you are going through a period of "What the hell is happening?" at work or in your relationships or healthwise, take a moment and realize that when you come out the other side that you will have earned a lesson. Whatever you are going through is happening to elevate you to your next level. Lean into it. What you feel right now won't last forever but if you pay attention,  the growth you're experiencing will last the rest of your life.