A few days ago I noticed something that my 3 year old does that has pretty profound implications.
My wife and I were discussing the typical child menu options as we pulled into a restaurant parking lot. Pizza, cheeseburger, fries & chicken tenders. That’s usually about it. My 3 year old is listening from the back seat and exclaims “French Fries?… I LOVE french fries!” Sure thing, kid, don’t we all.
The server drops off water at our table and again Chase calls out: “Water?… I LOVE water!”
Someone brings to our table crayons and those kids menus you can draw on and once again Chase screams: “Crayons?… I LOVE to color!”
That’s when it hit me. He does this all of the time, as I’m sure many kids do, but the way he says it really struck a chord in me. He constantly sees the things he loves and shouts them out. He has a great awareness for the things that make him happy and he isn’t shy in expressing his passion about it.
There are so many things that I love, yet, I rarely do this. Not in this way – or out loud anyway.
I have the greatest things around me in my life. A nice car, great friends, top of the line technology, tasty food. Why don’t I verbally exclaim it more? Maybe an even bigger question is, what are the ramifications of not exclaiming it more? Energetically speaking, of course.
What if we all did this? What if we all looked at life this way? I know many of us have heard that we should “see everything as if it’s a miracle” or to “view the world with child-like wonder”, but what does that even mean? If everything is a miracle, doesn’t that mean that nothing is a miracle? I’m not sure, but I do know that there are tons of things I love all around me, all the time, every single day, and familiarity can breed contempt.
As a matter of fact – and I think you’ll agree with me on this – most people speak about things they don’t love way more often than they talk about the things they do love.
What if “living with child-like wonder” was as simple as just shouting out the things you loved whenever you encountered them? I mean, if I started doing that right now from just looking around the room I’m in, you would think I had Love-Tourettes or something!
Whether we do it a little more or a lot more, there’s one thing that’s certain – More is better – and I’m committed to doing it more.
I’m now going to go join my family in the living room to watch a movie.
Movies?….I LOVE movies!
