Lessons From a Child's First Birthday

While we try to teach our children all about life,

Our children teach us what life is all about.

~Angela Schwindt~

He doesn't know a party is brewing until it happens around him. He is suddenly surrounded by adults and other children. He tries to follow his somewhat older girl cousin as she careens around the house. He can't walk yet be he can stand and then drop to his knees scampering after her the best he can. He sits playing next to another one year old visiting from Abu Dhabi with no idea where he came from or how he got there.

His family and relatives take turns bouncing him, photographing him and marveling at his smile. He smiles again for his fans. He is passed from one lap to the next and sits comfortably with anyone who takes an interest in him.

He eats quietly in his high chair as the adults chatter on. Then he is on his own again for a few minutes playing with whatever he can reach, this time a plastic block. The adults busy themselves clearing the dining and serving tables and stowing the dishes.

Next he is back in his high chair and his bib is retied. A small cake with a single candle in the shape of the number 1 is placed before him and everyone sings. His four year old brother blows out the candle for him. Everyone waits while he wonders what the cake is and why it sits in front of him.

His father and mother cut a slice and then two. They scoop up some frosting and put it on his lips. He soon gets the idea and grabs a fistful of cake and frosting, getting most of it in his mouth, while all the adults cheer him on. He is finally full and tires of the cake game. He squirms until he is put back on the floor and then crawls at top speed for the toy box. He is free to play while the adults and other children have their own cake.

His child mind, the only one he has so far, keeps him living in the moment, enjoying the sound of others laughing, the dizzy colors of the birthday decorations, and the lingering taste of frosting in his mouth. He doesn't worry about what might happen later, what anyone else is doing or how anyone else feels. He lives in the moment as all children do.

Adults sometimes discover that they still have a child mind and can use it to set aside their cares and worries for a while to delight in what is happening right now. They can frolic in innocence without anything to weigh them down. How about you?

Happy Birthday, Connor.

Life Lab Lessons

• Try to find your child mind at least for a few minutes, or longer if you can.
• Set your concerns aside. They will wait until later.
• Recall how you saw life as a young child.
• Try looking at your current life that way for a little bit.
• If you find this difficult, watch a baby in action.

Joseph G. Langen is the author of 5 eBooks, Commonsense Wisdom for Everyday Life, Young Man of the Cloth, Navigating Life, The Pastor's Inferno and Release Your Stress and Reclaim Your Life. See more about his writing at http://www.amazon.com/Joseph-G.-Langen/e/B008TWW8M4/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

Contact him at: jglangen@gmail.com

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