“What Is A TEACHABLE Moment AND How NOT To Miss Them”

I have said that EVERYTHING is a teachable moment! But what helps me to recognize them is to BE teachable myself, knowing that I don’t have everything figured out!

These TEACHABLE MOMENTS can happen at anytime, in any place, or in anything that we do like taking a walk, cooking, watching a show, playing a game, or shopping. My kids jokingly ;-) tell me that I can take anything and make a lesson out of it! The truth is that we are constantly learning ourselves, and teaching something about ourselves to those who are watching our lives. We are continuously consuming and processing information through our senses and will react or respond to the things that get our attention the most!

For example, whenever we have “jammy parties” and are watching a movie, there is always at least one lesson that can be brought to the light, shared and discussed at some point in time! For me, I always looked for the lessons that would first, help build the character of me and my children; second, help me to make them aware of things that would challenge them in life; and third, how to help them plan and prepare for their response to unexpected things that will be out of their control.

It was always preferred that these conversations and lessons would take place after the movie was over and not during!

People are people whether on a screen or when you see them at the store, church, school, at an event, or in your neighborhood. Learning and communication isn’t limited to just words! You can learn alot about someone by watching their body language to help determine their mood or attitude in any given moment. A tone of voice can reveal joy, calm, urgency, anger, frustration, or a warning.

When we pay attention and listen, we learn about people and the things they are experiencing. While we listen, really listen, we begin to process that information that can enable us to respond to a need, speak truth, find ways to be helpful, to solve a problem, correct, or affirm them. This is when and where people begin to feel valued and will impact every relationship that we will ever have.

If we are NOT going to miss TEACHABLE MOMENTS, it is important to:

-know they can happen anytime, anyplace, while we are doing anything

-understand that people are people and are always learning and communicating in some way

-look for the lessons that will build good character in ourselves and others

-know that there will always be challenges and opportunities in life

-plan and prepare for opportunities and challenges BEFORE they come

WHAT YOU CAN DO to reach the goal of TEACHABLE MOMENTS which is to genuinely value others by being invested in them becoming the best they can be!

1-Re-read this blog and identify an area in your life personally that may need some attention:

A - being teachable B - paying attention to opportunities

C - communication in all of it forms

2-Decide why the area that you chose is important to you, and determine your next steps with what you have learned.

3-I love to hear what people are thinking and would be grateful if you would share with me any other thoughts that you have about this blog! You can leave me a message on the 1VLA Face Book page or, email me at: brenda@1vla.com

4-If this has been helpful, I invvite you to like our 1VLA Face Book page and share this with a friend!

Remember that you will be less likely to miss TEACHABLE MOMENTS!

> WHEN you are teachable and look for opportunties to share lessons that you are learning with others

>WHEN you pay attention to communication in any of its forms

>WHEN you respond with a desire to value others