Something I Learned From My Grandparents

It has obviously been a very long time since I've blogged here. I apologize if any of you have been disappointed by my absence, but frankly, I haven't felt like I have anything people would care to read. Still, I felt like the last post was a little negative/harsh, so I've wanted to find something I could write about to balance that out. At long last, I have something. You may not care to read it, but I think it's really something.

I've had some neat opportunities to spend time with both sets of my grandparents this year. Those are times that I will always cherish and memories I will always love. In my conversations with them, though, I've noticed an interesting thread. Our conversations covered numerous topics, and they had some neat stories and insights, but some of their answers taught me in a way I wasn't expecting.

The questions I'm referring to were all the same sort; they were questions with beginnings such as: "Was it hard...", "Did you like...", etc. Often, when I'd ask such a question, their answer would be, "It didn't matter...", "No one thought about it, it just was...", or something of that sort. Thus, I've gathered that back in the day, life just was--more so than it is today.

Today, we think of everything in the context of, "Do I like it?" "Do I want it?" "How hard is it?" I don't know what has caused this. Perhaps our society has developed to the point where that's how we differentiate between everything. Thanks to my grandparents, I have come to realize that life doesn't need to be approached that way, and it may be better if it's not. Let me share some examples of specific questions I asked my grandparents, to which their responses made me rethink myself.

One question came up when we were expecting our little girl. I asked Grandma if it was harder having babies back in the day. Her response was something to the effect of, "it wasn't hard or easy, it was just how it was done." I loved that. Why do we have to judge something based on its difficulty? I realize that with today's medical, technological and other advances, there is often a better way to do things. In reality, that is what our economy runs on--businesses are always looking for better, more efficient ways of doing things. Many of those businesses provide great conveniences that are truly blessings, but some just aren't necessary. Tablets, for example. Does anyone really need a tablet? They provide some conveniences, but I can't think of a reason why anyone would need one. Could it be that somethings are better done the hard way. Maybe, even if we have a better way of doing things, our mindset shouldn't look for shortcomings in the way we do it. Maybe our mindset should acknowledge that one method is the way to do it, then we do it and then it's done. I feel like being a mother or going to work, for example, might be better if we didn't think about whether it was hard or easy. It's just the way we do things (hopefully).

Another learning moment came when I asked my grandparents if things (money) got tight when they were growing up. Both of them responded that they didn't know. One lived off the land, so he never thought about it, and the other said her parents never let on. Yet most of us judge our circumstances by how much money we have. Maybe their parents struggled with money, I don't know. I do think that all of us could be more childlike and live off the land, living more in harmony with each other. Maybe we think a little too much about how prosperous we are and not enough about how great life is. I love getting down to the level of the sidewalk or the dirt and just playing with it with my hands; it makes me feel like a kid again. Doing that also helps remind me that everything is here for me to be happy.



My grandparents are amazing. I love them and am incredibly grateful for them. I thought their answers to some of my questions lately have been very insightful and I know I want to alter my approach to somethings as a result.