Mum once told me that we don't go to school to learn how to be a parent. Although that's not an excuse, it is a cop-out, because it means that whatever we do, we're not officially 'responsible.'

Although we may not go to school to learn how to deal with life, the most amazing childhood doesn't give us any guarantees. Life has a knack of throwing things at us, when we least expect it. When parents take the lion share of a child's problems, it makes it even more difficult for us to learn how to deal with our issues as an adult.

Life of 'Hard Knocks'

'Life can be a school of hard knocks.' The education we may get from life is often used as a contrast to a formal education. People may use the school of hard knocks analogy to identify and justify their life, so they can explain the cards life has dealt them. It's okay that we use the analogy, but we should also choose to do something about it.

Justifying ourselves

We may justify our thoughts by convincing ourselves that our life was never going to be any different, but as we may continue to justify our thoughts, we can never change the things we need to change.

We tend to use the analogy in response to others, when they ask about our formal education. We may use it to justify our failings, whilst on a conscious level we continue to ignore things.