I Don't Wanna Grow Up!!

I have no children. Over 3,000 miles away from me, I have one sister and a brother-in-law who have a lovely baby daughter, Courtney. I am crazy about Courtney as most parents, aunties/uncles, and grandparents are about their offspring. Just last week I had the awesome opportunity to spend some quality time with my new niece. That was one of the most enjoyable times I have had in a long time.

Courtney is a very, very happy baby! She smiles at everyone and hardly cries at all except to say "Feed me!" or "Change me!". Courtney, at 7months old, puts everything in her mouth as most babies her age do. And, while we were together she began to try her hand at crawling. It was cute because at times I could tell there would be things in a room she wanted to explore and she was determined to figure out how to propel her body forward to get to those points of exploration. It was enjoyable and fascinating for me to watch her be a baby. She just wanted to explore everything – she was oblivious to the possibility that she could fall off of a table as she moved toward the object of her attention. She wanted to taste everything regardless of the fact that it was full of germs and/or dirt or that it might cause harm to her. She wanted to love and hug everyone, even with complete strangers she would smile and giggle. She is a very happy baby!!

Ok, so what does this have to do with getting to my destiny?

Well, for the most of my life, I have lived on my own – taking care of myself (with God’s protection and provisions of course) and making my own decisions without much elderly counsel. This is not really a good or bad thing per se, it’s simply my experience. And, in my life I have made a whole lot of mistakes and misjudgments, had missed opportunities, and simply have made some bad choices. Those misfortunes (and I don’t say these thinks to evoke feelings of pity or sympathy) have yielded results that at times have been very painful for me. And, my reaction and response to these results has been to become more and more guarded, more and more cautious, and more and more skeptical of people and their intentions as well as my own ability to handle situations well. My negative responses, while an attempt to protect myself, is NOT ALL GOOD!

Fortunately, one morning after spending time with Courtney I was given a revelation about living. A light bulb moment helped me to see that I need to be much more childlike in my approach to life. Secure in their parents protection, babies and young children explore and experience the world with little hesitation or fear. These little people charge ahead without regard for what might hurt them while we as adults take the negative experiences we’ve had and use them as reasons to construct walls around us in the name of safety and security to avoid future hurt, harm, and danger. The problem with this is – and this is probably not news to anyone reading this – the walls we construct keep out the positive and good experiences as well as the negative ones. And, how can anyone be happy with no real, positive and fulfilling experiences. NO ONE CAN!

My revelation was this... In order to continue towards happiness and fulfillment, I need to tear down the walls – even the ones I thought I’d already torn down – and approach life like a child who has just been given free reign in a toy store. I need to give myself completely to that which I pursue, not looking behind or around me. I need to approach life with innocence, a sense of wonder and excitement, going after all things of interest to me without regard for the things that can go wrong or that will hurt! The wisdom of experience and age teaches me that at some point I will hurt and there will be pain… this is a given and won’t change and this is good information to know. But, I shouldn’t worry about that. I need to simply seek out with enthusiasm that which will bring freshness and newness! I need to embrace experiences that are sure to generate happy thoughts and happy feelings, a sense of fulfillment, and movement towards discovering the things that truly bring me joy.

Will a child ever find his/her favorite toy(s) if she simply stands at the door of the toy store and never explores what’s inside? No, he's/she's got to run up and down the aisles having different experiences to discover what will really bring him/her joy! We can learn a lot about living from children. Courtney reminded me that “I don’t wanna grow up”… I want to stay as childlike as I can as I experience the world and life! Consider adopting that attitude towards life… and let’s all enjoy the ride!!