Life is full of lessons for our children including – don’t get ready, stay ready. If we teach them this lesson when they are young, they will be better prepared for life when they are adults.
You can find serenity, in teaching your children to stay ready. This article is part of a series devoted to sharing lessons I learned and am teaching my children. These lessons are good tips for both children and adults. Previous Serene Sunday articles dealt with teaching our children it’s okay to fail, get all you can and can all you get, and be a friend to yourself. Next week, the final Serene Sunday in the lessons for our children series will be – one monkey don’t stop no show.”
The lesson for today comes from a phrase I heard a prisoner say in a documentary about life in prison,“don’t get ready, stay ready.” This is such an awesome lesson and it comes in so many different forms. I know that most people have heard it more than once. The boy scouts talk about being prepared. In the military, people are taught to be ready for the battle to come. I am a church girl, so in church, you might hear them say:
- be ready because you do not know when Christ will return or
- don’t be like the foolish virgins who were not ready for the wedding invite
No matter how you slice it, “don’t get ready, stay ready” is a powerful statement. Often it is the case in life that when opportunity comes, people miss it because they were not ready. Look at some real-life examples:
- You want a promotion at work that requires you take a special class, but you never take it
- Your family plans to have pancakes for Sunday breakfast, but you have no syrup in the house
It is important to prepare for what is to come and to be ready for the things to come. Many opportunities are lost because we are not ready, but planning to get ready. If you want to succeed in life you must learn, “you don’t get ready, you stay ready.” I often wondered if my children are actually paying attention to the lessons I teach them. My wondering stopped when I heard the following exchange between the twins, age 5 when they were playing a game:
Z: Stop C I wasn’t ready yet
C: You’re not supposed to get ready, you stay ready
I had to turn my head so they wouldn’t see me laugh. But you know I was proud. These are children who will not miss opportunities for lack of preparedness. When Monday morning comes and it is time for school, their backpacks have been packed all weekend. Why? Because they don’t have to get ready for school, they stay ready. When we are ready to go on vacation, I don’t have to tell them to go pack, their suitcases are already filled to overflowing with toys and treats. My babies don’t get ready, they stay ready.
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In conclusion, don’t get ready, stay ready. It is not smart to miss opportunity. When you miss an opportunity you feel at a loss and defeated. There is a great deal of serenity that can be found in staying ready for things to come. So, the question for you this serene day is, do you have to get ready or do you stay ready?
