Never growing UP … ( 01 / 05 / 2012 )
Never growing UP … ( 01 / 05 / 2012 )
Sometimes children remind us of facts we have long since forgotten … “ No matter how hard you try , you can ’ t baptize cats .” ~ unknown child
… and sometimes they remind us of Truths we need to remember : “ Love is foolish … but we still need to try it sometimes .” ~ Floyd ( age 9 )
When I am around children , I am reminded that , even though growing old is eventually required of us all , “ growing up ” is optional . We can choose to remain “ young at heart ” and revel in the times we have been given — and this , no matter how “ old ” we are …
And yet this fact is not enough for me .
For there is an even deeper Wisdom I ’ d like to share with you as well : that to avoid “ growing up ”, it is not enough for us laugh as children laugh ( though whole-hearted laughter is indeed a very good thing ), nor is it enough for us to live as children live ( though having fun is also a fine way to appreciate life ).
No , to truly keep from “ growing up ”, to truly avoid eventually becoming jaded and brittle and tired and bored , it is necessary for us to also remember how it feels to Love like children Love … the all-out , soaked-inthe-moment , no-holds-barred , completely selfless , don ’ t-care-at-all-whatanyone-else-thinks-or-says , never-ever-quit-on-you-or-leave-you LOVE .
You see , to Love like this is what it means to “ become again as a child ” …
… to Love like this is what it means to remain “ forever young ” …
… and to Love like this is what it means to be truly Happy .
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