walking the path

it's friday!  what a busy week it's been around here, with the kids helping and participating in

VBS.  phew.  i'm glad it's almost over.  this week's five-minute prompt:  PATH.

click on the button to read the rules and play along if you wish.

hope you have a great weekend!

have you ever wondered at all the mechanics involved in walking?

if you haven't, i'm not surprised.  i had not either.

until my son had difficulty with it.  yes.  difficulty putting one foot in front of the other.  difficulty with the timing of the steps.  difficulty with the coordination of the bodily efforts it took.

oh, sure, he could WALK.  it's just that it was awkward.  uncoordinated.

it wasn't lost on me, the irony of it, when i would say, "watch where you're putting your feet!", followed quickly by, "you need to look in front of you, not always at the ground!"

he was stuck.

his confusion by the task at hand led to even more uncoordination.  more stumbling.  more awkwardness.

and the key, i found, was to finally help him to look just a bit ahead on his path.

not just below him, where all he could see was his feet.  and not so far ahead that he had no clue what his feet would soon be encountering.

the key for him to be successful:  keeping his eyes just a bit ahead, where he could both enjoy the view yet see what was coming up next that his feet would need to prepare for.  

with that, his path became a lot more manageable.  with that, his LIFE became more manageable.

at least, it does when he remembers :-)  and once again, the child becomes the teacher. . .