Wednesday, June 1, 2011

A few lessons on mistakes, failure and learning - from a 10-year-old

I learned a lot from my 10-year-old son, George, this past week.

First of all, he appeared in his elementary school musical, "Dear Edwina Jr.," a fun and often hilarious piece of children's theatre. (George was in the chorus.)

Acting in a musical, especially for kids, is something that is "hard before it is easy.". Imagine the group gathering for its first rehearsal. No one knows the text or the songs. No one knows where to stand, never mind how to keep out of each other's way in the dance numbers. Most of them are just learning how to sing and act.

Yet, a few weeks later, with the great help of teachers, directors, etc., and after hours of rehearsal, the kids are able to make a fun, memorable experience out of words, music, dancing, props, etc. It's not perfect, and is more delightful for that reason, but it is good, and the journey the kids have taken is something they'll remember for a long time. The most impressive lesson may be the value of work and perseverance: that something you can't do initially eventually can become something you can do, and do well.

The second observation concerns our recent beach weekend. George was entranced by the wooden skimboards in a beach store and, being that we'd forgotten to pack beach toys, we were in the market for some stuff to play with.

(Above: skimboards from ZAP Skimboards)

We could tell that skimboarding was probably harder than it looked. So my wife looked up some how-to videos, like this one:



Then we took the board to the beach. George and I took turns, mostly falling on our butts. However, we started to get the hang of it. Then, later, as we walked back to our hotel from the beach, he said something really impressive, without a hint of discouragement:

"I sure am learning a lot, because I'm failing a lot. I'm not a pro yet," George said, "but I'm getting better."

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