Although most of the time, they seem like little devils, children are actually true angels that teach us a lot about how we can lead a better life. It seems like most of the time, they don’t have a clue as to what they are doing, but unknowingly and without a clue they allow us to explore things that we tend to forget as we grow into adulthood. There is a reason we call kids a gift from God. They allow us to better our life, see the good things in life and just take each day with a smile. Watching my two kids, I have been able to learn some things that have helped me take a better look on life itself. Let me just share some with you.
1. Every day is a new day
“Mummy, Look!!” said my 2 year old daughter one day. We were at the traffic light waiting for it to turn green. I looked around to see what was she pointing at, and it turned out to be at a passing lrt. My daughters jaw literally dropped in amazement. I was so amazed that something so mundane to me managed to bring out so much excitement in my daughter. It’s not that she hasn’t seen it. She sees it every single day.
Every day a child wakes up, it’s a new day for him. There’s a whole new world for him to explore. He looks forward to going through it. You may say “Ah, they don’t have things to do. They are not bounded by schedules.” Well, you are wrong. Even children have a schedule that they need to adhere to. They have to wake up at a certain time for us to send them in the nursery before we go to work. At school, their nap time, play time, eating time. It’s all been scheduled for them. So tell me, why can they still go through all this with a smile? Why can’t we smile while we go through work. Are you then gonna teli me that they have a choice and we don’t? I think , we have more choices than they do. Think about it.
2. You can’t have everything
Every time my daughter passes the toy section at the mall, the word “NAK” will surely come out. Im sure most children are the same in this sense. Once u say “No”, What will the child do? He’ll probably create a scene of embarrassment for you and cries for a couple of minutes then simply forgets. Although there are a lot of things we would like to have like that 8 million dollar house in Bukit Damansara or a BMW X5, it doesn’t necessarily mean we deserve it,or need it. We don’t always get what we want. That’s life. So forget what you don’t have and focus on what you do have. Just look at the child sitting in her stroller who was crying minutes ago, she is now smiling and playing with the toys that she brought from home. We need to realize that we can’t have everything. A child learns it from us and we need to learn it back from them.
3. Love Unconditionally
As adults, when we give our love to someone, we often do it with the subtle expectations of what the other person should do. Then when those expectations aren’t met, we get disappointed, hurt and most of the time, grow cynical about the whole love business. But when a child loves, his love is unconditional. When my daughters smiles at me, u can feel it beaming at you like the rays of the sun. It is the kind of love that comes straight from the heart, without preconditions or expectations. Mean people? Kids just ignore them and walk away. What if we did the same thing? So, why can’t we love like that? Getting hurt is part of growing up. We just need to learn from it. Children get hurt by those they love too. But somehow they still manage to love unconditionally.
4. Be curios & take risks
Ever notice how eager children are to take risks? Climbing grills, or swinging WAYYY high at the playground? Do you have any pictures of the ridiculous things you insisted on wearing to school when you were younger? Whether you wanted to be different or trying to be cool, you probably took some risks as a child that you wouldn’t dare to take now. Kids never bother with their lack of knowledge or qualifications. They even try if they haven’t done something before. If they fall, they get up and try again. Adults are comfortable with habit. We tend to shy away from unfamiliar activities. Because of that, we miss out opportunities or experiences. The next time you are puzzling about joining a yoga class, walk into the studio and try it. Always wanted to try tennis? Get someone who knows it to teach you. Who knows, you might be the next Nadal.
*actually this will be my TM speech no 3...just trying it out...i think it still needs a lil fine tuning...
