I think I can, I think I can...

Can't.

I hate that word. Well, that contraction, because really, it's two words put together. Obviously all of my English teaching/tutoring has taken over my life. Anyway, I hate it. Can't that is, not English. 

The words can not generally imply that you are not capable. Often, we use them as substitutes for "you are not allowed" etc. but if you really look into it, it means that that person/thing is not capable.

Switching gears a bit, I have great parents.  One thing they never did was to tell me that I "can't" do something. They may have used the phrase in connection with "not allowed" - for example, "No Rachel, you can't eat ALL of the cookie dough." or "Rachel, you simply can't come to the dinner table after spending all day horseback riding without washing your hands!" However, in connection with the true meaning, even from a young age, I don't ever remember them telling me that I was incapable of something. I was encouraged to try and they were and still are my greatest supporters.

Here's a prime example: Obviously those logs are just small enough not to smash my feet too bad when I inevitably drop one on my toes...but they are letting me try (or just enjoying the free child labor)

Time and time again, they've told me "Rachel, if you want to do this, we have no doubt that you can." Whether it be undergrad, study abroad, teaching in South Korea, or moving to Redding for grad school, they've been the best support.

And as I've just completed my first week of classes in my Masters in Counseling Psychology program at Simpson University and am overwhelmed and still scared out of my mind, they are still reminding me that if I really want this (and Lord knows that I do), that I can.

One analogy I like to think about in regards to this is a child reaching on their tiptoes for something: maybe a cookie jar or in this society, mom or dad's cell phone on the table.  It might seem impossible at first, and maybe at that moment they genuinely aren't capable of reaching it, but if they keep trying as they grow, they will eventually will be able to reach the object.  On the contrary, if they give up and do not try anymore, they will never know when they are capable.

So because I decided that completing my first week of classes called for a celebratory glass of red wine, CHEERS to knowing that whatever in life that we set our minds to, we can.

                    

“Without difficulties, life would be like a stream without rocks and curves – about as interesting as concrete. Without problems, there can be no personal growth, no group achievement, no progress of humanity. But what mattes about problems is what one does with them.” 
― Benjamin Hoff, The Te Of Piglet

(and I PROMISE the next post will have a tour of my apartment!)