nursery rhymes

Traditionally, nursery rhymes don't have the most positive messages. Babies fall out of trees, eggs are irreparably cracked, girls get suspended for taking sheep to school, dishes run off with silverware they aren't married to, and don't forget the concussions (Jack and Jill, plus the old man who bumped his head and couldn't get up the next morning).

And perhaps my favorite...

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.

She had so many children, she didn't know what to do;
She gave them some broth without any bread;
She whipp'd all their bums, and sent them to bed.

Somehow these messed-up messages become the sing-song rhymes of our childhood. We repeat them enough times that 30 years later we are able to teach them to our own children, no songbooks required. And we do. Sometimes without even thinking about the messages. Or the fact that we have the right to retell them.

Last night at dinner Kenzi sang us a new song:

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall;

Humpty Dumpty had a great time.

And we all laughed and clapped because this is exactly how the story should go. Life and the stories we tell about it should be endless possibilities, limitless potential, enjoying every moment while on the back of a unicorn, wishing on stars and having our dreams come truer than true.

It's important to note that Kenzi never told us if Humpty was cracked or if he was whole. That wasn't important to the story. What was important was that he had a good time.

EMBRACE NURSERY RHYMES.

If you've been focusing on your failures and life's cracks, all the "no's" and the "can'ts", maybe it is time to rewrite your story.