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"It's Not My Turn To Watch Him" |
| Larry Hochman |
Spend a day in my house and at least once you'll the following phrase:
"It's not my turn to watch him."
Almost always, this has something to do with someone doing things that are not smart - that are not in their best interests, that are crazy, dangerous, fattening, expensive, etc...
...and that we choose not to take responsibility for.
I like this phrase. My wife does too. It tells the world that we're not babysitters...that we respect people enough to make their own decisions, and to accept the consequences for those choices, both good and bad...
...in other words, we let people fall on their faces when it comes naturally.
OK, I'm only telling you half the story. The REAL reason we like this phrase is because we spent the better part of our adult lives babysitting someone or a group of someones. We tried like heck to save people who didn't want to be saved...
...or didn't care enough about being saved from their own mistakes to stop making them.
It's really fun when we use that expression about our kids.
Of course we both watch out for our kids. They're 11 and 8. Our 11 year old is great. She's really cool, says and does lots of fun things, and is usually a great person to be around...
Of course, she's 11, so she's at the point where half the time she wants to be cared for like a little girl, and half the time wants her parents to be invisible. There are times she DEFINITELY doesn't want to be watched...
So of course, those are the times where she's most likely to do things that make us crazy.
And those are the times when we like to pull out...
"It's not my turn to watch her."
Life is like that. When you're moving in the adult world, people are going to say and do things that just make you scratch your head. You'll be wondering how they got to be as old as they are without dying in a completely avoidable accident.
Don't get too cocky. You know you did the same things. I did too.
But the fun part is that every once in a while someone will try to take the silliness of someone else's behavior - maybe their own - and shift the responsibility onto YOU.
Sometimes you'll be drawn into someone else's drama - the little theater production they put on to get your attention and make you feel sorry for them. We all know these situations - someone drinks too much at the wrong time, tells off the wrong person, buys a big screen TV and maxes out the credit card, spends the rent money at the casino - any number of things that people manifest in their lives.
Wouldn't it be fun to get drawn into their little world? Doesn't it sound cool to sit and watch the misery of someone else? Especially when it's self-inflicted?
Used to be fun for us...and lots of other successful people.
Now, it's not fun. We'd rather focus in on success and prosperity and let those who need 24 hour babysitters look elsewhere.
So when someone brings up someone else's silliness, where we used to jump in with both feet, you'll now here our favorite expression...
"It's not my turn to watch him."
Try it sometime! See if it amuses you the way it does us.
Even better, work on being a person who doesn't need (or want) to be watched.
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| About the Author |
©2004 All rights reserved
Larry Hochman, Bristol, Connecticut 06010
Larry Hochman is "The Guidance Guy" and the author of NINE SECRETS TO COLLEGE AND CAREER SUCCESS. He has published widely on education, personal development and home business. Visit Larry at http://wwwTheGuidanceGuy.com
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