Today, a quote came across my heart: "Let's try teaching children how to think instead of what to think."
This is my Jannah. She is strong, loving, sincere, forgiving, and respects and appreciates life. Jannah teaches me so much about letting go, listening, and living in the moment. She began saying, "I love you with my BIG heart," when she was three-years-old. I've learned and continue to learn from her how to love unconditionally.
Early on Wednesday, we ran a couple of errands. Even though I think I'm present, I'm not. I heard Jannah singing along to a song on the radio; she is always singing, so, this is nothing new. I turned off the car just when the song ended. Casually, I said, "I don't like that song." Imagine that? I wasn't available to listen to it, but I told her that I didn't like the song. It was final; nothing else needed to be said, according to my thoughts.
I began walking into the building. Jannah stopped walking, looked up at me with her eyes squinted from the brightness of the sunrays, and said, "Mom, the lyrics to the song are: Let me love you. I will love you until you learn to love yourself." I said, "Oh." Enough said.
Just because the beat of the song didn't catch my attention, I had a diluted perception of the song. I said the words out loud then Jannah interrupted me, and said, "Nemo sings it." I said, "Nemo? Oh, you mean, Ne-Yo." She said, "Yeah, you know who I'm talking about."
I, unintentionally, tried to convince Jannah to not like that song when I wasn't even present to hear it. She gave me the opportunity to listen through her, and I did. I'm giving her the space to be her--teaching her how to think, and I love who she is.
