In The World

The Seattle author, Robert Fulghum, became well known for his book, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. One of the book's teachings appears on the tile above.

It's really good advice, isn't it?

And, despite its obvious goodness, I frequently fantasize that it doesn't apply to me.

Pretty much the same fantasy arises with all of Fulghum's teachings, including:

• Share everything
• Play fair
• Don't hit people
• Clean up your own mess
• Don't take things that aren't yours
• Take a nap every afternoon
• Remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - and the biggest word of all - LOOK

These don't always apply to me, do they? Aren't I special?

After all, there are times in my life when I don't want to share. When I want to hit. When I don't want to look.

Sigh. They invented pacifiers specifically for little babies like me.

Comments

[Genju]

That's OK, Barry. You get to be the center of the universe 1/6.8 billionth of the time at least! :-)

[Suzanne]

Barry, you're very hard on yourself for being human.

[John Small]

Someone once taught me, when dealing with someone who's difficult, say to yourself, "What's the matter, are you hungry or tired?"
Goes for dealing with yourself too.

[bob]

Thought about this post all day. I think we don't want things to be so elemental. If what we seek is basic, and easy, and we fail to achieve it difficult gives us a reason to say it's not our fault. "It was too hard", "It was too time consuming".
I think I read that Dogen said if what we seek is simple why is practice so hard?
I wonder what ox herding picture I am on?

[David Clark]

To add to John's remark, when I see an adult acting cranky and difficult, my first thought is "Somebody needs a nap!" When I find myself being cranky and difficult, I know it's past my bedtime!

[Jomon]

I'm not sure if I enjoyed the post or the comments more. Delightful.

[Barry Briggs]

Thanks, everyone, for your comments. I'm with Jomon - I might have enjoyed the comments more than the post itself. Maybe we'd all be better off if I took a nap before writing...!