The Pull-Up Principle can teach us some important things about recovery
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My family got me thinking about Pull-Ups the other day… To clarify, this is not the Pull-Ups you do with the bar, the kind of Pull-Ups that you wear.
My wife runs a Preschool and my kid’s volunteer at our church’s preschool program. My wife sometimes thinks I’m a preschooler, so I guess I fit in well. Not surprising, the topic of Pull-Ups entered our conversation this weekend.
Turns out Pull-Ups are a bad idea. Without getting too gross, Pull-Ups prevent feedback. The toddler will do his or her thing and they won’t be able to feel the wetness, so they won’t learn anything from the experience.
The Pull-Up Principle
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If we remember the Pull-Up principle, every experience in our recovery can teach us something. The Pull-Up Principle means that you carry your learning with you. And you can’t take care of your own and someone else’s Pull-Up at the same time.
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- If we remember the Pull-Up principle, every experience in our recovery can teach us something. Pull-Ups send the wrong message: you won’t feel much until someone else helps you out, and then you will cry a lot. Pull-Ups minimize our discomfort, meaning that we won’t recognize the signs that we have needs, triggers or, um… messes.
- The Pull-Up Principle means that you carry your learning with you. You learn the most when you get a little wet, when you become a little uncomfortable and when you recognize the signs and the needs that you have. In short, the Pull-Up Principle helps you to play the tape forward and anticipate struggles or high-stress times that are around the corner.
- And one more thing, you can’t take care of your own and someone else’s Pull-Up at the same time. You just don’t have enough hands. The principle is One Person, one Pull-Up. You can’t fix someone else’s mess, that’s not healthy. Let them take care of their own Pull-Up. They might cry a little, but one day they might even thank you.
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