Lego Lesson

I still build Lego and Lego building still has things to teach us.

Do you still build Lego? Do you play Lego with your kids?

I don’t have kids but I still build Lego and if a child invites me to play, I’ll likely say yes.

This is one of the quirky things about me. I used to be embarrassed by it. I mean building Lego into my 40’s? But as a company that supports and encourages authenticity, I now proudly tell you and show you if you are over.

Three times a year you will find my husband and I perched at our kitchen island building Lego. In the Spring, we build some pieces for May the 4th (Star Wars). In the Fall we build Lego for Halloween. Haunted houses and vampire castles. Then finally before Christmas we set up a whole Christmas Lego village on the floor of our upstairs landing. Santa’s house, a toy shop, post office, train station, railroad and train etc.

It is a great way to spend time with my husband. I usually pull the pieces out and he puts them together. It’s a nice quite afternoon/evening of team work. Usually with a good bottle of wine to go with it. I look forward to it. We check out the Lego catalog whenever it arrives and look for any new sets we may want. We don’t buy much anymore as we have a lot but we still enjoy looking.

You may be wondering why I am writing a blog article about Lego. Good question.

My husband showed me an Instagram post from Terry Crews. He is seen posing with a finished Lego Star fighter. Now don’t stop reading. This post isn’t about how cool Lego is now because Terry Crews posted about it. It was what Terry Crews said in his post. In his post he talked about how Lego teaches him about life. He has learned that “human beings are like Lego’s – just because you are in pieces, doesn’t that mean you are broken? NO. You sometimes just have to disassemble and put all the parts back right again – and that takes time, perseverance, and a ton of patience. But if you never quit, you will achieve your goals. Remember – YOU ARE NOT BROKEN, YOU ARE JUST NOT FINISHED. KEEP BUILDING!”

That is interesting food for though.

I believe that no one is broken. I didn’t always think that. In fact I used to think I was broken. I used to think there was a lot about me that was broken, weird, strange etc. There was a lot that I just never talked about. I mean how can someone like the style and elegance of an Audrey Hepburn but like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings at the same time? How can I have a beautiful home, and use Lego to decorate three different holidays? I used to hide those parts that I thought were “wrong”. Today I know there was flaw in that thinking. Today I know I’m not broken and you are not broken. You are just you. You can love a beautiful candle and love Lego at the same time. You can have a beautiful print right beside a how to take care of my dinosaur poster. You are you. The world needs you to be you.

Now don’t misunderstand me… Like Terry Crews said, sometimes you have to disassemble and put all the parts back right again. I do believe that we need to constantly improve ourselves. Sometimes, the way we think and act do not serve us. It is then that we need to do some major improvements. Most of the time however, we just have to try to be better everyday. Make small adjustments and improvements. It is when we stop growing, stop improving that we stop.

The other part of Terry Crews message is that rebuilding takes perseverance and patience. I think that is true. Often we want a quick solution. But life isn’t like that. We have tools that can help make improvements easily but as you improve, as you grow you just peel back the layers of the onion and expose the next part to be examined and improved. Our journey never ends. It is important to keep working on ourselves, knowing that the task will never be done.

Although the steps may seem small in the moment, when you look back, you can see the changes. The small incremental changes we make to heal, to grow, to be better, add up. When I look back even two years, the person I was, is not the person who is here. Every small change has added up to a very new me. I wonder who I’ll be in two more years?

Terry Crews had a good message. You are not broken. I will add, that you are you. Be proud of who you are. You are magnificent.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Please share.

“You’re not broken. You don’t need to be fixed. Everything you need is right inside of you.”

Katherine Mackenzie-Smith