“I can’t wait until I’m older” is something that I’m sure my parents got tired of hearing from me when I was a child. I wanted to be older because then I’d be able to do whatever I wanted (so I thought). I’d be able to watch TV and stay up as late as I wanted. I’d be able to eat out whenever I wanted. I wouldn’t have to wake up and go to school. I’d have my own house and car. One of the things that I hated more than anything however was nap time. Who wanted to take a nap in the middle of all of the playing that I was doing? What type of heartless person makes a kid stop playing and force them to sleep in the middle of the day? Parents, that’s who!
There were more reasons that I wanted to grow up. The list goes on and on. I thought I’d have it so easy. Life as a child was just so inconvenient and growing up would change all of that. I’d like to believe that many of us had those or similar wishes as a kid. We all knew things would be different when we were adults and we couldn’t wait for that time to come. They weren’t going to be the boss of us forever. WE’D SHOW THEM!
Then, something strange happened. One day, I woke up and realized that I had many of the things that I wished for as a kid. Many of my childhood dreams, as small minded as they were, had come true. I had no bedtime. The chore of going to school was long gone. I had my own place and a car to go wherever I wanted. The world was my oyster. And on that day, as crazy as it sounds, all I wanted some of those childhood “inconveniences” back. As a child, I was extremely ignorant to life as an adult. I put so much emphasis on the things that I didn’t like about my life and gave so much power to the things that I perceived to be positive in the life of the adults around me. This equation led to me not enjoying the simplicity of childhood. This is normal with children and we shouldn’t expect them to be mature about this. They don’t have the life experiences and perspective that we do. Children get a pass. They have an excuse to be ungrateful…we don’t.
Wouldn’t it be nice to get in the bed early every night and get a good night’s rest (having a bedtime)? Wouldn’t it be nice sometimes to turn off your phone at night and avoid email and unwanted text from the outside world (the 2019 version of not watching TV all night)? Wouldn’t it be nice to wake up and know that the biggest responsibility that you have for the day is to spend the day bettering yourself by learning and improving the probability of a successful future (having to go to school)? Wouldn’t it be nice NOT to have rent, or a mortgage, or a car note, or expenses? When you flip the “childhood coin” and look at it from a different view point, being a child had quite a few benefits. Everyday, I have something to be thankful for. Even on my worst days, I can be thankful for the opportunity to make the next moment better and enjoy the things that make me happy.
My point in all of this is that if you aren’t careful, you will spend so much time in your life wishing that things were different, that you will miss the opportunity to be thankful for the way things are. And when you look back, you’ll realize that many of your wishes came true…and that may not always be a good thing.
Thanksgiving is a time for the four F’s. Family, friends, food, and football (at least in my eyes). For some of us, this is the one day that we take a step back and give thanks for the things that we are fortunate enough to have. But what makes Thanksgiving so special? Is turkey (or whatever your Thanksgiving meal consists of) the “thankful” food? Is there a chemical in the Thanksgiving meal that drives us to suddenly give thanks? Or is it a conscious choice on our part to participate in a tradition, which often makes you realize how good life can be? I could be wrong, but I think it’s the latter. And if that’s the case, then why can’t we make that choice more often? The answer to that question, is that we can make that choice more often. We can choose to be thankful more often than o.27% of the year (one day). Not only can we make that choice, but we SHOULD make that choice. Being thankful should be a daily exercise, not a national holiday.
At some point in the next few weeks you will undoubtedly f
ind yourself in a situation that is hard to deal with. You will face a moment of adversity, however small, that makes you wish that temporarily, things were different. That moment will encourage you to not be thankful. In that moment, if you’re able to clear your mind for just a second, think about nap time. I sure don’t hate nap time anymore. In fact, I wish it was standard operating procedure at my job. Don’t you wish you could nap midday at times again? I’d bet a lot of money that you do. See, life is crazy like that sometimes. If you’re fortunate, you’ll get a chance to see many of the things you wished for come true…and if you’re smart, you’ll wish that a lot of things stay the same.
