Thought for the day:

Thought for the day: Live an intentional life! You either live by design or default! You may as well design a life you desire!



Friday, June 18, 2010

Out of the Mouth of Babes

Anybody who knows me well, has heard many stories about my Goddaughter.  (That is her and her brother dancing in the video for today)  She just had her "Step Up" program marking her transition from 2nd to 3rd grade. I am so proud of her! Time is truly flying! I have learned so much from her over the years.  Sometimes, adults don't realize how much wisdom kids have and that, for the most part, that wisdom is unjaded by the ins and outs of life. In a lot of ways she reminds me of myself.  She is often reflective, at times so quiet that you can forget that she is in the room.  She is sensitive, loving and caring which often leads others to take her meekness for weakness.  But, they soon learn that she is strong, resilient and not afraid to say what is on her mind.  She is funny, smart, quirky, talented, bold and beautiful.  She is simply amazing.

Recently, her Mom told me about a conversation that Lay had with a boy in her class.  The boy came to Lay and apologized for being "mean" to her during the school year. When Lay asked the boy why he had been mean to her, he explained that he was jealous.  He told her it was because she always had a good attitude and behavior for which she was often recognized.  My baby said to him "If you are faithful over the little things, God will make you ruler over much!"  This story had me truly thinking.  First of all, I reflected on how amazing it was for this young boy to humble himself to apologize...and then to be transparent about why he acted the way that he did. If adults would do that, it would allow room for dialogue that would make all of our relationships and therefore our society better.  Next, I thought of how bold Alaysia was in choosing not to hide her faith when she revealed what drives her to behave as she does and why she is blessed for it. 

I have decided that in my day to day life, I will more diligently apply the two lessons that I learned from the dialogue that came "out of the mouth of babes."

I leave you with some wisdom from one of my favorite books, "ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN" by Robert Fulghum.

All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sand pile at school.
  • These are the things I learned:  
  • Share everything.
  • Play fair.
  • Don't hit people.
  • Put things back where you found them.
  • Clean up your own mess.
  • Don't take things that aren't yours.
  • Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
  • Wash your hands before you eat.
  • Flush.
  • Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
  • Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
  • Take a nap every afternoon.
  • When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
  • Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
  • Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.
  • And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.

 
Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.
 
Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be if we all - the whole world - had cookies and milk at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.

And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out in the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

 

 ~ As Always Be Beautifully Blessed

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