My little one is only nine months old and she has taught me more in those nine months than I ever thought possible.
I foolishly thought that becoming a parent meant that I would be the one imparting knowledge. How wrong I was. She has taught me so much more than I have taught her.
One of the many lessons she has presented me with is about tenacity and growth. Recently, she has learned how to pull herself up to standing. So she reaches out, she pulls herself up, she stumbles, she falls. She reaches out again, gets back up, undeterred. She tries again. She doesn't complain. She doesn't get down on herself. She doesn't start to think that it's an impossible task. That there's no point in trying. She doesn't list reasons why she isn't capable of doing it, why she isn't ready, why she should try again another day. She doesn't compare herself to other babies. I'm not even sure she has a particular goal in mind. It is more that she is trying to do the next little thing. The next little bit. The next little step. She is playing with the edges of what she is capable of.
I always teach my students 'go to the comfortable edge of your stretch'. And that is what she does; every, single, day. She goes to the comfortable edge of her stretch. She brings herself to the edge of what she is capable of and stretches herself just a little more.
Not so much that she breaks and not so little as to stay where she is. Just enough to learn. To grow. To unfurl. To blossom. She goes to the comfortable edge of her stretch and that is where the magic happens.
