Let Children Teach Us Part 2

 

‘You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.’

-Wayne Gretzky

 

‘Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.’

-Winston Churchill

 

‘When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around.  But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.’

-Mark Twain

 

We can learn an awful lot from watching kids.  There is one thing in particular that all kids do that we as adults find quite annoying, but in reflection, we should do more of.  They ask.

 

If there is something my daughter wants to do, she asks if she can do it.  If there is a toy or movie she wants to have, she asks if we can buy it.  If she wants to play with her friends, she asks to play with her friends.

 

Here is the crazy thing. She gets some of the things that she asks for.  That is right, a decent amount of the things she asks for, she gets.  And how many of things would she get if she didn’t ask for them?  A whole lot less, because my wife and I wouldn’t know she wants them.  I am not going to write about what happens when she doesn’t get what she asks for, maybe some other time.

 

Sure, it is annoying that kids are constantly asking for what they want.  It is annoying that they usually don’t stop at the first or second no either, and aren’t afraid to ask the other parent after the first said no.  But, at least we know what they want.

 

At some point, a lot of us stopped asking for what we want.  And guess what happens when you don’t ask, you don’t get.

 

I am not talking simply about wanting material things and asking for them.  It is about communication.  People don’t know what you want unless you tell them.  No one can read your mind.  This goes for co-workers, siblings, parents, clients, spouses, none of them. 

 

Ask your spouse to try and stop that habit that really bothers you.  Tell your boss that you deserve a raise.  Ask a client if they know anyone else that can use your services.

 

Go ahead and try it.  Stop waiting for someone to read your mind. Pretend you are a kid and don’t worry about what might happen.  Ask.  You might just get it.

 

Kyle C. Ryan