Lessons I Learnt from the playground

I’m not going to lie, school days were tough for me. Not being one of the ‘it girls’, being a dreamer and going against the crowd made me quite unpopular. My only saving grace was the fact that I could hold a note. I was known for my passion for music but I really wasn’t a ‘looker’ (insert frump girl pic here! Haha!). I wouldn’t sleep with the popular boys or smoke a joint when my mum wasn’t looking. I was straight laced but bold. I was extremely hard to categorise because I really didn’t fit any group.

I look back on those days and realise that there are a lot of similarities between the playground and the grown up world. The only difference is that children will tell you the absolute truth! No really! They cut you to the core and leave you without anything to hang on to. Well what patterns have been connected with school and the grown up world you say?

Firstly, we still have groups. There’s that famous celebrity group that everyone is trying to model. Some people consciously go against their influence and live content lives their way. Others lap up the rubbish that these celebs spew out in order to maintain the ‘success’ that they have. I am not going to say that I haven’t been influenced but I now have a filter. Like there is no celebrity on this planet that can tell me that pregnancy snapback is real. I know that there is heavy niptuck involved in getting that beautiful post baby body into shape. Why lie about it though? Wouldn’t your humanity and sincerity free many women of all the unspoken pressures of motherhood. I’m a mother, trust me, I know that there is pressure. I’m sure by now you get the point with this one.

Secondly, bullies still exist in the grown up world. They just have different names. We don’t know them as bullies anymore; they could be our bosses, so called friends or even family! It’s the people that tell us to shut up and conform to their expectations. It’s the people that tell us that we won’t be successful without them and it’s the people that are praying and hoping with every ounce of them that we do not win in life. Anything that makes you feel less than valuable is bullish and bullying behaviour. Anyone that makes you feel small by a laugh or an insult or being overlooked is bullying behaviour. We don’t want to admit it but the truth is told by how it makes you feel. 

Class is still in session; we should NEVER stop learning what life is willing to teach. Being flexible and adaptable is super important. Soaking up as much as we can so that we stop creating the same negative patterns and start creating new positive ones.

Always make time for playtime; let’s not take things too seriously all the time. It’s great when you can have a moment with the ones you love, to laugh and be genuinely happy. Cherish those moments of good regardless of the bad because they are worth much more than gold.

Ultimately, it’s completely unto us what we are willing to tolerate. If we don’t want to remain in school we have to ask ourselves “do I want to graduate from childish behaviour?” See next post to learn “How to Graduate from Playground antics”