Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Empathy

Thank you all for your support on that last post... I'm not standing on the edge of a cliff or anything so no need to call the suicide hotline for me. Though I will say it's so much harder to write a blog post when you don't have good positive things to say. While warming up for that 10K on Sunday I was already writing the blog post report in my head... it was going to say something about how satisfied I was about running such a solid 10K even after coming off several solid weeks of training in a row... and then I imagined writing about how I capped it off with another 8 mile run and felt fantastic... yeah... well, that obviously wasn't how it went.

I know many of you can relate though b/c running can be tough on our bodies and its not uncommon to have injuries pop up when you're training near your limits. So I appreciate the empathy. I've never really thought I was good at empathy. I tend to think more along the lines of something like, you people deal with your own problems and I'll deal with mine... I guess I'm a little better now than I used to be, but still, I don't typically expect people to cry with me when something doesn't go my way. So forgive me if I'm not going to blather on and on here about my calves and how obnoxious and pesky they are.

One thing I found interesting the other night was that Moana, at 2 1/2 years old, is expressing empathy. I haven't done a lot of research on age appropriate times to show emotions and all that, but her show of empathy caught me off guard. Of course it had nothing to do with my calf- she does not understand that. But you know what she does understand? Intense love for one's blankie. I sat down with her on Sunday evening and we watched Elmo in Grouchland. And when the bad guy stole Elmo's blankie, her little lower lip came out and her eyes welled up with tears and she cried out, "Where's Elmo's blankie?!!? Elmo needs his blankie!"  I held her on my lap through that whole movie until she saw that it was indeed resolved and Elmo got his blankie back. I was hoping she wouldn't have nightmares about that and luckily, it seems she did not. Anyway, I just found it interesting the my 2 year old is better at showing empathy than I am. Once again, I could learn a lesson from her.

9 comments:

Rebecca DeWire said...

It is really remarkable what our children are able to teach us and I think that is an amazing part of parenthood.

Molly said...

Awww, that's very sweet of her! HOpe your calf is already feeling better.

Running and living said...

I've always said I am more like a man, I like to solve problems rather than waste time dwelling on a problem. I get why you don't want to put it on the blog. I would not, either (not that there is anything wrong with that, it just it would not help me).

As long as you have empathy for yourself, you are good to go:)

Aimee said...

Aww...Moana is so sweet! I think I would have teared up seeing my 2 yr. old get upset about Elmo's missing blankie!!
There is definitely a lot that I have learned from my 2 boys. It's one of the perks of being a mom! :)

Angela and David said...

Zach is big on saying "Mommy, are you all right?" and then before I can even answer saying "okay, good." He also keeps telling me it's okay to cry if you are hurt. He's already smarter than his mom.

Glad you are taking the calf injury in stride. It's really all you can do - not that I did it well when I was cursing myself in my head while walking that stupid marathon in Kona. Have you targeted the weaknesses that might be causing the issue?

Unknown said...

Moana cracks my sh*t up!! I hope that my future kid(s) can make me laugh like she does!! :)

Kim said...

i think we can all learn a lesson from moana. i heart her.

Regina said...

I took my son to see a movie at age three, 'Up!". Before the movie they had a cartoon short about storks delivering baby animals to their expectant animal mothers, however one stork had the unfortunate job of delivering baby sharks, crocodiles and the like resulting in a pretty abused and beaten up stork. My son was so upset and wanted to leave, he told me "they are hurting the bird!". I had to assure him there would be a happy ending if he stuck with it (don't make me a liar Pixar!) and thankfully there was.

I also watch him now, at age 5, tuck in his two favorite stuffed animals with such tender care next to where he sleeps, their special blankets and pillow in place. It reminds me I need to show the same care and concern for those I care about.

Charisa said...

Oh, so sweet. I hope you heal quickly!