Learning to adapt.
There was a chapter of my life where kids running around would've made me angry. Even though they were just being kids. In fact, it happened on many occasions.
Laughter followed by some high-pitched shrieking, a dash of anger. Running, falling, complaining.
I remember working as a summer camp counselor. There'd been one kid in my group who would absolutely refuse to participate in whichever game we were playing—usually capture the flag, four square, or basketball. To his credit, it was summer in New England and 2/3 of those options were played on the black-top courts. Not to mention, by that point, I'd been his counselor for five years... he knew how to push my buttons.
The swarm of kids would start buzzing, waiting for the game to start. But not him. He'd slink off to the side, trying to recruit a fellow boycotter or two to join his side-quest. My rules had been fairly simple: you did not have to play if you didn't want to, but you had to stay within the area of the activity. It was so I could keep an eye on things while trying to empower the kids with a bit of agency.
He hated this rule. And I hated that he hated it, because it made my job harder than it needed to be. But it'd take me a while to learn that the job wasn't—and would never be—what I'd decided it should be. The job was whatever happened. Full stop.
Today, I'd been sitting by the window at the coffee shop down the street for some amount of time before realizing the commotion going on around me. I don't usually sit there, and that's why. I hate not knowing what's happening behind me.
Something caught my eye. I cracked one ear of my headphones, setting them slightly ajar like a DJ in the booth, and clued myself into my surroundings. One kid wearing a blue jacket, maybe six years old, zoomed past. Another, younger, moped behind and dragged their feet. Their head lolled in visible protest.
I almost laughed out loud.
Once they'd reached the table, their dad wore an expression I knew all too well.
This wasn't a "let's find a spot to sit" type of look... this had been a return to base after a jail break. These kids, much like my former camper, did not like the "stay where I can see you" rule.
But I was grateful for the reminder: the job is to respond to what happens; resentment doesn't solve it.
Our Daily MAP Year Prompt
107/365
What's a lesson you learned a long time ago that recently resurfaced? What made you remember?
onward.
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