My earliest clear
memories of events I experienced, which are not simply memories of stories told to me about my childhood, are from when I was 4 years old. I know, because those memories are clearly situated at and near the apartment in Minneapolis where we lived when I was 4, from which we moved about the time I turned 5. One of those memories, which would have occurred when I was about 4 years and 4 months, is the following. On a hot summer day, my grandmother told me that it was time for me to take an adventure by myself. We lived on a busy street with traffic lights, and I'm sure that my grandmother had already explained to me how to cross streets at lights as we took walks together. But this day, she told me, I would go by myself, a distance of about two blocks, crossing at least one busy street, to buy myself a popsicle and then walk back home.
She would sit on the stoop and watch to make sure I came back OK. I did. And then, after that, I could take walks like that myself, to get things my grandmother or others in the family needed, without having to be watched. I'm sure that one reason I remember this event so well is that it was very exciting to me, a big step toward growing up.
There are a number of significant things to note about this memory. First, this was seven decades ago, back when it wasn't unusual to see little kids walking along the sidewalk and crossing streets unaccompanied by an adult. There was no
fear that someone would call the police or Child Protective Services. If Jack were 4, you might not want to trust him to make a good bargain on his sale of the cow (he might trade it for beans), but you could trust him to walk to the marketplace and find his way back. Second, this illustrates something that
parents (or grandparents, as in my case) did in those days;
they taught kids safety rules, so they could safely gain independence, rather than protecting them from independence.
Comment: This is a good illustration of having the right mindset that can be applied to a number of areas in life besides just or any physical exercise. The mental game, getting a handle on self-doubt and general attitude, are often the most important factors in accomplishing your goals.
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