Toddler lessons: Wanting people to think differently is a recipe for suffering 🐼
Apr 24, 2025
“I don’t want Bubba Girl to think Spidey is Appa!” my son Jack cries after our 1.5 year old daughter Cecilia calls a stuffed animal by a different name. He almost melts down, screaming, “I don’t want her to think that!” As adults we see that he’s suffering his own thoughts. He’s not going to succeed in changing her thinking. If he wants to play instead of suffer, his best bet is to let go of making her any different and change his own thinking about what’s happening.
How come we can’t see this with ourselves? I don’t know about you, but I definitely slip into trying so hard to get people to think and act differently. You should believe this. You shouldn’t buy that. You should vote for candidate X. You should support Y cause. What makes it so challenging to see that I’m suffering my own thoughts about what’s happening?
(Join the discussion on Uptrust)
With love, Jordan
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