Learning Life Lessons from Kids

by Alison Chapman

Sometimes we let simple things in life stress us out. I have a lot on my plate at the present so this happens to me frequently. I babysit for two families here in Austin. Their kids range from 4-12 years old. When I go to their homes to babysit the kids, I immediately lose all negative thoughts and feelings because the kids make me smile with the things they do and say.

It’s amazing that as children we perpetually look forward to the time when we will grow up and can do anything we want. Then, once we grow up and become overwhelmed with responsibilities, we look back to those carefree childhood days. When I am around the kids I babysit, I think how wonderful childhood is. By looking at how children see the world, we can learn some things to introduce in our own lives.

As we grow older, we focus on either the past or the future instead of the present; we pick up the habit of nursing our grievances and worrying about small things. But for a child, everything is unfolding right before their eyes and they have not learned to let themselves be consumed by past or future.

A couple of weeks ago, I was babysitting two boys named Zach and Nick. We were outside playing basketball and Nick pushed Zach over. Zach started crying and I ran over to comfort him. He had a little scrape on his knee; nothing too bad. He saw another toy he wanted to play with so he stopped crying and ran over to it. I was amazed at how quickly his focus went from crying to playing with another toy. If something like that happened to an adult, they would remain upset for days.

We can learn simple lessons from children. They are resilient and carefree with little worry in their lives. As we go through our day, when things get us down, we should stop and think back to the simplicity of our childhood. Hopefully that will lift our spirits and help us to let the little things roll off our backs.