Today is the last day of school. Children and teachers alike are giddy with excitement. Today is “move up” day, the day the kids find out who their teacher will be next year. To watch the children laughing, clapping, jumping up and down with glee is a sight to behold. Oh, to have the energy and enthusiasm of a child.
What happens between childhood and adulthood? Sigmund Freud put it pretty bluntly:
“What a distressing contrast there is between the radiant intelligence of the child and the feeble mentality of the average adult.”
Where did that enthusiasm go, and how do we get it back? Maybe if we hang out more with the kids, we can learn from their modeling. For example, my granddaughter has been asking me since the middle of winter to take her to the Boonville pool. I kept saying, “Not yet, Sierra. Still too cold. It opens Memorial Day.”
Every phone call, every interaction with Sierra this past week was overflowing with effervescent anticipation. Yesterday was the day. No matter that the skies were overcast, threatening rain. We were headed to the pool. Every moment was filled with smiles, laughter, and uncontained joy. Over and over she splashed and played in the water with Gram. Once back at my house, she paused just a moment to get a bite to eat and then continued running and playing with the animals and swinging on her swing set. On the return trip home, she fell into a restful asleep in the back seat.
Later last evening I received a message from my daughter: “I just want to thank you for entertaining Sierra today. She has been doing nothing but talking about going swimming with you for the last week. She really enjoyed herself. So thanks again, Mom!!”
But do you know what? Age doesn’t matter. Last week I met my friend’s uncle. I was completely shocked when he told me he was 68. My friend at age 50 is as effervescent as my eight-year-old granddaughter. My friend’s uncle said he likes to hang out with his niece because “She keeps me young.”
“The Inner Journey” web site communicated the following sage comments this week:
“Young children possess what Zen calls ‘beginner’s mind.’ They are awed and fascinated with the wonder of the world, open to discovering and experiencing new things. Anything is possible. Life is a great adventure.
For almost all of us, the systems that ‘educate’ us to be adults stifle our natural joy and curiosity. We lose touch with our innate appreciation of life. We forget how to dream.
The blessing is that with attention, patience and love, we can reawaken our sense of wonder. We can again dance with life.”
By wisely choosing our friends and our attitude- and with attention, patience, and love- we can reawaken our sense of childlike wonder.
