Is John Curley’s life lesson brutal?

Taken from The Tom & Curley Show on KIRO Radio.

John Curley says…

I gave this speech to my kid the other day and I repeated it to another parent and they thought it was really brutal. Here is what I said:

Let me explain how life works. Imagine yourself in a giant room. It’s a circular room and there are doors in front of you. In this circular, door-filled room, every single door is open.

Depending on whichever direction you turn, the door in front of you is open. If you take a step toward a door, that door remains open. But realize that by turning away from another door or not moving toward that door, that door slowly closes.

Either by your action or inaction, doors are closing or remaining open. But slowly all those doors you don’t make a move toward will close.

Is that brutal?

Tom Tangney says…

That is brutal because the freedom of being a kid is that you don’t have to worry about the consequences farther down the road. And all you’ve done is say every step you take is actually hurting you or defining you in irreparable ways.

What I love about kindergartners is they have their arms open as wide as they can. They’re accepting everything in the world. They have no cynicism. They have no understanding of the world. They just embrace everything.

But your 5-year-old might stop with his hands up saying, ‘Oh no, this might be a mistake.’

John’s kid is not 5. He’s actually 12. Do you think the message is still brutal?

JS