You Cannot Teach Life You Can Only Learn Life

 You Cannot Teach Life - You Can Only Learn Life

I'm on my way, with my friend Ivan, to see the Van Gogh Exposition on the Las Vegas strip. We're talking about our kids, when he says: "You Cannot Teach Life - You Can Only Learn Life." I asked him where he heard that saying. He said it's what he has been telling his son. I thought about it a moment, then said: "that is so smart and so right."

A French teacher doesn't really teach French, she helps you learn French. Once learned, the best way to use that learning is to go to France and talk to the people. By being there, you can learn so much about the French and their culture.

As parents we try to teach our Kids about life. We want them to be good people. We want them to be financially secure. We want them to have great relationships. We want them to be happy. The problem with all that is, nothing we say will ever teach them those things. They have go out on their own and learn those things (and many more things).

It's frustrating when they fail. It's frustrating when they make mistakes. It's frustrating when they seem unhappy. That frustration makes us want to teach them how - it just almost never works. 

"When I was your age, I did...." Well, the fact is you did... because you learned how to do... The only way your kids are going to learn how to do... is by doing... and learning from it. That learning may take learning from mistakes, failure and or going through unhappy times. My life is a testament to those facts.

It's hard to see them go through the trials and efforts of life. However, it's so interesting to see them make a life for themselves. It may not be the life you wanted for them, but, good or bad, it's their life and whatever they do with what they've learned is the life they decided to live. 

Sooo, encourage the people you love to learn from living life not from reading about life in books or teachers (including yourself) who try to teach them what life is all about.