Perspectives on motive

The objective was to eventually re-plant the seedling into a more suitable location so the squirrels could have a preferable home, since the ash trees were having difficulties on account of those naughty bugs.All motives assigned, and with good intention.  I have trained for over 33 years for moments like this.The spring and summer moved on - and we continued to use our yard as a combined entertainment, learning, and leisure venue in this pandemic context, and we dutifully watered and nurtured our seedling and watched it sprout a couple of new leaves.  Everything was going perfectly, or so we thought.I am uncertain if it was Tam or PeepPeep, but the squirrels came back and took actions that we did not anticipate - this can happen when you misidentify motive.  They messily dug out their foodstore and had a very tasty breakfast out of what we thought was supposed to be their future home!When I first came upon the scene I screamed in my head, ' Murderers! ' and wondered if it was toddlers who had dug out our positive intentions and made such a mess on the deck.  Sometimes we can sabotage our own efforts this way.  But then I saw the real evidence: the cleanly severed seedling, the acorn shell remnants, and I immediately knew that we made a grave error in understanding motive.This was no future home.  This was future breakfast for Tam and PeepPeep.Understanding motive is hard, and perilous, and I guess that even after 33 years practice it is possible...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - Category: Occupational Health Tags: OT practice parenting philosophy Source Type: blogs