Try to Have a Child's Joy

I was walking down the aisles of Target on a rainy Sunday afternoon. I needed added seating for the basement. Inexpensive bean chairs or butterfly chairs that could be used for those extra guests, or to put it more clearly, those young adult guests that my children invite over. None of my friends would appreciate sitting on a bean chair. I pushed the cart along the aisles of food as I headed towards the back part of the store. A young family was pushing their cart in the opposite direction. There were two little girls walking alongside. The mom called out to the older one, who was about seven, to pick out some goldfish crackers. You know, the ones that come in cheddar and pretzel flavored. When the younger one heard this she yelled out a loud "yea". This brought a smile to my face. My adult daughter who was accompanying me on this trip said in puzzlement, "What is so funny?" I replied, "Oh the simple joy of childhood".

Every time you turn on the news these days it's bad and worse. The economy is on a downturn, unemployment is up and the government seems frozen in partisanship. New world threats hang over us each day. Yet here is this little girl exclaiming such joy over her favorite snack. You are probably thinking well, she is unaware of all of these problems, and that is true. She is just overjoyed at the thought of eating a favorite snack. As we all grow older, it seems more difficult to find simple joys but I believe that it is just that we are blinded by our everyday worries.

There are many problems in our world, no one can deny that and ignoring them won't make them go away, but there are also many wonderful things happening all around us. This past year, three weddings were celebrated on my block and numerous grandchildren were born. My neighbors' had many happy events to enjoy. After a long and snowy winter; spring is blooming all over New Hyde Park. The trees are filled with pink and white flowers. Beautiful colors are seen in nature's living creatures as well. As I was rushing out of the house one morning to do a few errands, I headed towards my gate. A beautiful red bird was perched on top of it. I couldn't help but notice it since it was sitting right above the gate handle. I'm not sure which kind of bird it was but I stopped for a minute and admired its beauty. I wondered how many times that bird flew past my path and I never paid any attention to it. Stop and smell the roses is such a cliche but perhaps we all need to slow down our busy lives once in a while and notice the beauty of nature all around us. Sometimes we need to find joy in little things like a favorite treat or a walk near the beach with a loved one. Problems will always be there but should we lose sight of the many blessings in our lives?

We try to teach children many things but we can also learn so much from them too. Take a lesson from the little girl that I saw on a rainy afternoon in Target. She found such joy in a small pleasure in her life. Look around for the small pleasures in your own life. Feel the joy that they can give you. Problems will always plague us but when they begin to weigh us down let a small joyous moment lighten the load.