Sitting here in an all too familiar place watching my little 6 year old in his “big boy” gymnastics class has me contemplating life. By now you’re wondering what kind of gymnastics class this is to offer such insight, right?? I promise the class isn’t as intense as it sounds and neither is the gym. But back to why I started writing to begin with. Have you sat back and really observed a child? Really watched their behavior, their excitement, their joy for…well… everything? If not, I highly recommend unplugging completely for a bit and truly taking it in.

He walks into gym just ecstatic to be here. How many adults are like that about their jobs? Imagine our mindset and mentality if we were? Imagine the positive effect it would have on our job performance and even our coworkers. Once his class is called, he runs as fast as he can during warm-up, letting his excitement lead the way! Wouldn’t life be so fun if we let our excitement lead the way? It’s time for the first event and he runs to get in line first or second. He’s so eager to see what’s next, to see what he’ll learn or accomplish next. What would life be like if we faced challenges, surprises, or life changes this way? He doesn’t know whats next, but he’s ready to experience it, face it head on!

It’s time to listen to Coach so he knows what to do at each station. He’s eagerly listening but he’s doing something else too, he’s jumping in place. My first thought is, did I ever have that much energy? And if so, where did it go?? But then I laugh a bit thinking what the world would be like if adults showed that much energy, positivity, excitement, lust….for any given thing. Imagine if we all just jumped in place every time we were happy. You’re laughing just imagining it too, aren’t you? I admit, it sounds super corny and odd. But when did it become so faux pas to hide emotions, good or bad? When did we learn that we can’t show such enthusiasm for life’s littler moments? Or even life’s big moments for that matter? For him, this may be one of the bigger moments. In his mind, weeks pass much slower than they do for us adults. So shouldn’t we show more enthusiasm since our days pass much faster than a child’s? If we are experiencing such joy, then wouldn’t more things be joyous?