Read the instructions

I don’t know about you, but I don’t read the instructions. When I get an appliance or a build-it-yourself project, I put all the paperwork in a pile and only refer to them when I get stuck. Yes, I get stuck. I get stuck a lot.

In today’s modern functioning fast paced world, we hurry to accomplish without stopping to read the instructions.

Now we are trained how to follow directions. Our educational system is built around following directions. We get graded on how we follow directions whether the instructor is clear with the details or not.

And there are instructions for everything. There are dance instructors, art instructors, music instructors, and even shop instructors who will instruct you in the handling of heavy and fairly dangerous machinery even if you do not have a high school education.

There are also warning labels on everything maybe because we are too stupid to know when we order a cup of Joe that it is hot. If you look closely at these warning labels, like don’t stick your finger into a light socket or the do not stick a sharp stick in your eye, it makes you wonder just how dumb do we have to be?

Some things do not come with instruction. I know for a fact there were no instructions on how to unhook a bra. How to have a baby only came with instructions after the fact. There are positively no instructions on how to be happy.

If we were to instruct others on our experiences through this journey, our directions may be very different. Not everyone will understand the importance of wedding cookies. Some will understand the details of a foreign trip but will not hold the vision except through the discussion like reading a book.

So when I get stuck, I pull the directions out of the plastic bag and flip through all the different languages to the few pages that may tell me I’m missing a screw or that everything I have done so far is wrong and I have to start all over again.