“Sometimes you’ve got to think outside of the box,” people say. This especially applies to achieving difficult, new or what seems to be unattainable goals that require a steadfast approach, but many of us do not actually apply this concept. Is this because the ability to “think outside of the box” is innate; either you are adept in this area or not?
Watching my baby girl Quinn tackle one of her first goals of getting her pacifier back in her mouth is what got me pondering about this. Though she is three and a half months now (15 weeks and one day to be exact), rather than just put the pacifier in her mouth when she cries and screams for it, I will guide her hand to put it in her mouth or put her hand on the pacifier while it is in her mouth to hold it there, which is something I observed her doing for the first time when she was just a little over a month old. I will say, “You hold” or “Use your hand” to help her make the association with words. The idea is to give her a chance to figure it out on her own and to see what she is capable of doing.
Quinn holding in her pacifier all by herself
However, in the past few weeks, I noticed that Quinn was not simply using her hand to retrieve the pacifier, but she was using her bib or receiving blanket to assist her with pushing it back in her mouth, which is something she has been doing more and more frequently on our morning stroller walks. How creative is that!? If I automatically just put the pacifier back in her mouth, I would not have witnessed Quinn’s innate ability to “think outside of the box.” No one taught her this technique she uses to retrieve the pacifier, and she certainly did not see another baby do it. She just reached a point where she either did not want to wait patiently for someone else to put it back in, was acting out of frustration or just said, you know what, let me see if I can do this on my own.
When it comes to achieving goals, regardless of how small or large, I typically follow what I was taught to do. Even though this is not necessarily a bad thing, I wonder how much more successful I would be at achieving my goals if I went more with instincts and what comes natural? There truly are some benefits to being new to the world and seeing everything with fresh eyes. Come to think of it, babies do not have to think outside of the box because they do not even know that this “box” exists! Thanks so much baby Quinn for helping me consider new, innovative ways to achieve my goals! I just had to share this epiphany with others and hope this idea has you (potential readers of this entry) thinking outside of the box too!
Best,
Tanya
Journey of Anonomz 