Teaching TheKiddo™: Lesson 4

Life Ain't Fair

You can thank your Grandma for this lesson. It's one she drilled into your daddy seemingly from the moment he left the womb. And unfortunately, it's true. The fact that life ain't fair also happens to be why your generation (and the one before you) doesn't play organized dodgeball as part of P.E. class. 

Surprisingly more painful than one would think.

When I was growing up, dodgeball was mandatory. You were either the hunter, standing at some randomly determined distance from a wall with the ubiquitous red-rubber ball that you were about to hurtle at your classmates. Or you were the hunted, standing with your back to the wall, staring doe-eyed at those who wanted to do physical harm to you. 

I was terrible at this game. Whether the hunter or the hunted, I didn't play well. 

I was short. And slow. And not terribly coordinated. And my hands were too small to hold the ball well for throwing. 

I was, however, smarter and more determined than my classmates. So I learned to catch the ball. This not only put the hunter who had targeted me out of the game, but gave me a shield with which to deflect incoming barrages. Best of all, after doing this a few times, I wasn't targeted as often. 

I was still lousy and was rarely (and most likely not ever) the ultimate winner. But I had earned respect and found a way to survive longer than others in my peer group. 

I'm actually saddened by the fact that you won't get to experience this. This lesson has been taken from you because someone decided to pretend that life was fair, and get dodgeball banned.

The fact, however, isn't as easy to ban as a game.

Some people are more physically gifted—bigger, stronger, faster, quicker, etc.

Some people are smarter.

Some people are more attractive.

Some people are born with more money.

Some people are born with more access and influence.

Some people will take what isn't theirs and have no conscience telling them they shouldn't.

In nature, as in dodgeball, the hunters focus on the slow; the weak; the sick; and the old. But just as in dodgeball, the hunters are in turn hunted by others (even within their own species to prove dominance and ensure the survival of the genetic material).  

Remember: No one is perfect.

No one has everything.

We do, however, get to choose how we deal with the situation and make the most of what we do have. Since you know life is not fair from the beginning, you have a leg up on those who think it is. 

Think of it as part of your unfair advantage over everyone else.