Living Limitlessly

It's Friday, and  time for another Friday Night 'Thought-tale' (spin on 'cocktail') hour at the Henderson's.

During my week, I have begun to realize how I put limits on myself and others slowly but surely, and it's something I should want to change. This became evident to me during a couple of interactions that I had with some of the best teachers I know - a child and a person with a disability.  

First, a moment with Niko.

The first crash lesson came when I made a comment about Eddy being a 'bottomless pit' and Niko asked what this was.  I explained to him that it was a hole that had no bottom.  He looked perplexed, and asked, "Well then, does it come out the other end of the earth then and go into space?" I never thought of it that way, but a limitless 7 year old didn't know any other way.  I replied with "No. Bottomless pit just means it's a really deep hole." But it later occurred to me that Niko's depiction really made more sense than mine. When did I decide it wasn't possible for something to be bottomless and without limits?  

Did it just sound too scary to think that there was something without a bottom that ended up in space? 

I let that go until again, I faced another lesson of limitations.   One of the people that I work with was doing an interview, and the position was to be a job in the stocking room of a store. However, the person who was interviewing my client was under the impression they were interviewing as a cashier.  I could sense the interviewer was tentative  and I immediately thought he was concerned about her disability, unaware that he did not know  that this was for a stocking position.  So he started asking her questions about being a cashier.  My heart jumped, and I wanted to immediately leap into protection mode  and say "oh no no no". But before I could say a thing, my disabled, but limitless client responded, "Well, I'm not very good at counting money, but I'm willing to try and learn.  I'd rather be a stocker if you have that job."  Wow what a great answer. 

Here I was trying to set limits on this person, and they were willing to be limitless because they just wanted a job. 

I've always thought of myself as the kind of support person who didn't put limits on anyone, but these two instances helped me to see that with age, we become more protective and less imaginative. When did I become the person who set limits, and who taught me to have those limits?  

I think perhaps the change partially comes from the desire to be safe, not just physically, but emotionally as well. We all don't want to face the disappointment or the barbs that come from trying to do something that might be out of our, or someone we care for, ability bounds, but how are those bounds set unless tried, and how are they stretched and strengthened unless exercised? 

I will still believe in crosswalks, school zones, guardrails and reading the label on medicines. 

Common sense is still what it is: sensible.  But getting older doesn't mean limiting myself, or subscribing to an attitude that encourages that to others around me, or the universe in which we thrive.  

So I have decided I want to be a revolutionary against setting limits, and support living life limitlessly.  
I will no longer support those actions and cultural morays which say you have to look a certain way to do this, or be a certain age, or drive a certain car, or live in the right neighborhood,be the right color or belong to the right political party.The pit can be bottomless - I am not afraid of that.  The desire to learn trumps the evident skills, 

and what you see isn't always what you get.

Won't you join me in this revolution for living limitlessly?  This weekend, put out your feelers for the limiting factors, and smash them with all your might.  CHEERS FRIENDS! 

Kid Again Cocktail
1 oz of strawberry vodka
1 oz of pomegranate vodka
Orange crush
HawaiianPunch
crushed ice
Pour all in a sippy cup, shake and enjoy!