Two worlds, Two lessons…

It’s an amazing thing getting to see the world through another person’s eyes. On many occasions it’s getting to see things anew through the eyes of a child. When viewing the world through their eyes, amazing vistas open. A long forgotten joy in small things returns. You can look at a big box on the floor and it becomes….A MAGIC CASTLE! Your rug is now …THE OCEAN!  You are now…a PIRATE! Or an OLYMPIC SWIMMER! Yes, sometimes borrowing or visiting these magic lands is the gift that a child can give to you. A vacation from the real world. It’s beautiful.

Yesterday, I was driving an older relative around my home town. As this happened, I thought of many moments from my youth and the fun that I had. These places had different memories for my relative. He’s a happy man, but HIS memories of these same neighborhoods was a bit different. I would recall running after a pretty girl, he would remember running for his life because at the time of HIS youth…he wasn’t allowed here. I remember going to the store and becoming friends with the shopkeepers… he remembered going the long trip home hungry because “We don’t serve you people here!”. As he would tell the stories, there would be a little pain on his face, but the smile would return when he would leave the past and think about where he is and where we are now.

It’s a wonderful thing getting to see things from a child’s eyes AND the eyes of someone with a bit of history behind them. BOTH can teach you. One, teaches the need for the ability to feel joy in the moment and the other teaches the need to never forget the moments that have passed.

I listen to both, and I am a better man because of it.