Now that the weather is warming up, my daughter decided it was time to teach the Labradoodle puppy how to swim. Not so much how to swim, since that’s mainly instinctive, but the survival skill of how to get out of a concrete swimming pool by walking up the steps. He is almost a year old and looks full grown, but he still acts young and is nervous around water. She put him in the shallow water across from the steps, walked around to the steps, and called him while holding out a treat.

He didn’t quite get the concept, though. He was so afraid of the pool that he just stood up on his hind legs, put his paws on the side, and stood there looking like he desperately wanted someone to rescue him. After a while, he did manage to find his way onto the bottom step, but he didn’t seem to understand that he could walk up and out of the pool; so he’ll have to try again another time.

Often it’s like that with many things in life. We feel stuck in a situation that we don’t know how to get out of, we keep trying the same approach that didn’t work—and after a while, we figure out how to walk away.

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to “give this planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.” Visit her site to find more Nurturing Thursday posts and a list of frequent contributors.