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Hot Potatoes

Yesterday was Christmas. For lunch we had baked potatoes. Our four year old granddaughter and her 20 month old brother were seated at the table while we were putting all the food on so that we could eat dinner. I warned the children not to touch the potatoes. They reached across and touched them anyway. “Hot!” said the 20 month old. Then I reminded him not to touch the potatoes. My four year old reached across again and the 20 month old followed again saying, “hot.” I moved the bowl of potatoes farther away so that even with reaching, they could not touch the bowl and get burned.

I thought about this exchange we were having as I was setting the table and they touched the potatoes even after being cautioned and having the experience of touching the hot potatoes. Even though their touch was just for a second, they still repeated the unpleasant experience. Perhaps, they wanted to know if the potatoes were still hot or perhaps they were just trying to show me that they had their choice to make and I couldn’t decide for them. I will never know. Four year olds and 20 month olds don’t always understand why they do things, nor can they explain to us. Even sometimes, we, as adults, don’t understand why we do things we do.

Do we ever make the same mistakes over and over again or do we learn from our mistakes and leave the “hot” things alone? During the next week, we will be setting our goals, putting our plans in place for 2010 and evaluating our progress of 2009. What will your progress be? What goals will you set for the coming year? What plans will you put in place so that you achieve those goals? And will you learn from the mistakes of the past and have a more peaceful life in the future?

Setting goals empowers us to move forward in our lives. How will you empower yourself today and in the coming year?