They Teach Us

I watched B flip off the bed onto the bench and then onto the floor.  He took a second shook it off moaned a little and then got up and wanted back on the bed.  From there he carefully climbed down and reminded himself he knew how to get down and that he could still do it.

We can truly learn from their inability to accept defeat and failure.  B is no good at just moving on from a task he can not complete.  Whether it is winding up a car or climbing to reach something he wants.  In the middle he may throw a fit but he will not move on until the task is complete.  I know people say distract children and they will forget but with B he does not.  He will eventually do whatever it is he is trying to do.

Children also seem to have a trust that could remind us how the world used to be.  He will share anything with a stranger.  I am not sure where he gets this from because he is not in day care but he will walk right up to you and offer you anything from a dry leaf to his favorite toy.  And when you accept it he just lights up.

While in todays day and age I will have to teach him that talking to strangers is not safe it still says something about children that they trust until they have a reason not to.  And lets be real most adults don't trust until they have a reason to trust.

With everything going on in my life I find it easier to complain when tired, whine when I fall and not trust unless I have to.  I think many of us do this as we get settled in our ways and in our lives.  But I ultimately believe that it actually paralyzes us in ways that we don't see till later on.

So many times I used to fall get up dust myself off and try again but the older I get it feels like I lay there a little while.  I wallow in my pity and whatever I just failed at.  I let the fear or the fall determine my next move.

As with trust it can take one family member, friend, coworker or whatever to ruin it for all those to come.  And although I act like I am so open and willing to accept things I find that really I am not.  Really if you hurt me well I am done, ok most times, there are a few people I give/gave second and even third chances to but often was proven that guarding myself was much easier and better on the heart and soul.

Sometimes I wish I could just fail and trust as B does.  I wish that I could let go and be more open to people and the world and then all that has been served to me comes rushing back.  This is something I am working on both in myself and with God.  And I do not believe I am the only one who doesn't live as care free as a toddler.