my student hated thor

“Have you watched Endgame???”

The question of the week brought up some interesting conversations. A student was especially upset at Thor’s downfall from the Infinity War defeat. He was really disappointed and thought it was a low call for laughs. He was really upset at the writers’ direction and thought it was unrealistic.

It took me a couple of days of reflection before I recalled a memory where a past JNET would have agreed that Thor was throwing a pity party.

I returned to my past uncomplicated JNET KID brain.

I attended a personal growth seminar when I was a teenager. I was one of less than half a dozen kids that had permission to attend this grown up activity. People shared their stories while a coach leader listened. Not everyone shared. Maybe a dozen. But there were nods about the room as stories resonated with them and tissue boxes were passed. There were lots of crying adults and it surprised me at how EPIC long they held on to their hurt or anger. One particular person even admitted to not talking to their parents for 17 years! SEVENTEEN YEARS!!!!

I could never get away with being angry for too long. It takes too much energy. I would get bored or miss my family from paying attention to me. I usually went silent and go out for a jog along the beach and then vibe everyone to give me space when I got home. Eventually, it felt stupid to be upset. It didn’t matter who was at fault, sorry can be said or not. Someone would eventually call the conflict officially over by making a blank slate of things. What upset? Love is messy. That’s life; that’s family. Let’s eat together and watch this movie.

I was a kid. If I was angry at life, myself, or anyone, I didn’t go on self-destruct mode. I wouldn’t go Fat Thor nor would I have thought to go on a 17 year cold war.

S: “He almost defeated Thanos in Infinity War. Why did he get so hopeless? To be comedy relief? Stupid!”

Miss JNET: “Maybe after a while, defeats wears you down and recovery times changes.”

My student was not convinced. Thor, after all, is a GOD. And he, a mere teen, had more fire to fight for his life. He knew what it felt to have Life have a go at breaking you. He thought the writers were looking for cheap laughs.

My teen mind would’ve looked at Fat Thor and agreed with my student.

Thor, maybe you could’ve gone away to clear your mind a bit and returned and a be on silent mode as you made a plan....or not. You didn’t need to go on self-destruct and get out of shape. So that you can have a story to cry about and excuse to make your life messy? That’s pretty lame.

I’m going to tell my student that he’s right that Thor was throwing a pity party. It’s what grown ups do sometimes...hold on to stinking, lame stories that hijack time and attention instead of figuring how to level up.

Hopefully, when he’s a grown up, he’ll fight to always level up over all tough situations. If not, I hope he has a good friend like the Hulk that’ll put some sense back in him if he needs help. If I’m around, I’ll remind him of how amazing he was before he got tired of standing up again after a fall.

Kids hate stagnation without knowing what it means.

Live life like fresh cookies. Don’t hold on to stale stuff.

JNET

Post 150

By the way, there was a happy ending to the person that didn’t talk to their parents for 17 years. During the seminar, the person was given the challenge to call his parents and initiate an apology to end the conflict. He invited them to the end of the seminar’s course. To everyone’s happy surprise, they came, flying quite a distance. We witnessed a family reunite and begin their process to connect and heal.

Fresh cookies!

Posted using Partiko iOS