It is said with good intentions

Day 19 – Being able to accept help, even when unsolicited

I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught." W. Churchill

Everyone excels at something; sports, cooking, writing, gardening, model plane building, sleeping ... there is always something we do well. So well that sometimes people ask us for our help or assistance as they tackle said area of expertise. On the flip side of that, there are areas in each of our lives, whether it is something we have toiling at for decades or a new endeavour we have just jumped into, that we are in need of more guidance and council then the previously mentioned activity group. And it is here where we often become the recipient of advice of others. Sometimes solicited; sometimes not.

For me, my most recent new arena, literally, is hockey. Now like many Canadians, I had skates laced onto my feet at an early age (even though my parents are not skaters). Being a girl child growing up in Quebec that meant that I either figure skated or played ringette (ring-what? some of you are saying –picture hockey with a large rubber ring instead of a puck, and sticks with no blades). I figure skated. That is not to say that hockey is foreign to me. Played street hockey with the boys in my neighbourhood, and spending my formative years in Montreal turned me into a Habs fan (much to the dismay of my son who has taken to the dark side of cheering for the ever faltering Maple Leafs. Sigh.) So I really like hockey.

Many would start with a skills class or clinic. I am not many. I jumped whole hog into the sport forking out way too much for hockey equipment (how do parents with multiple kids playing afford it!) and joining a great women’s league.
Now as far as my team’s skills go, we range from novice (is there a term for a lower skills level?) to very good. I fall somewhere in the mid-bottom range of that scale (being a proficient skater, both forwards and backwards, helps my rating) so I am very open to suggestions on how I can improve my game. And lucky for me there are a couple of team mates who are more than willing, quite eager actually, to offer up that needed advice throughout the game.

For me, this is okay. For others, a continuous, unsolicited, reeling of “do this”, “go there”, “good girl” (gotta admit, that last one bugs me a bit), is enough to push them to the border of breeching our league’s non-contact rule.
So I am thankful that I am able to accept the counsel of others as it is meant; helpful. And that as long as there aren’t too many “good girls” or “dears” thrown into the mix (and yes, this advice is coming from other women around my age), then I won’t have to worry about chalking up too many penalty minutes checking my own team mates into the boards.