Perspective

Children can put things into perspective with just a few words.

For instance, several days ago our six-year-old granddaughter was telling me about receiving her birthday present early from her mom and dad. Her present was a new bike. When she finished telling me about the bike, she added, “I don’t really care if I don’t get a lot of presents for my birthday. I just want cake.”

I remember thinking “Wow.”

That evening as I was getting ready for bed I was thinking about what my granddaughter had said. And I thought about how even as adults, we have a sense of excitement about what gifts we’ll receive for our birthday. Yet here is this small child who only wants a cake for her birthday.

Could it be that we let material things overshadow what should have more meaning? Like family being together and talking, laughing, telling stories, remembering past birthdays? Perhaps we need to take a closer look at ourselves and our ideas of what a celebration should be about and like.

Not long ago, a woman was talking about a particularly tough day in her life. She said she was feeling really down and that she just couldn’t see a solution to her situation. She said she’d gone to the park thinking that perhaps being outside would lift her spirits. As she was mulling over what she saw as problems in her life, a young boy, perhaps eight or nine years old, sat down next to her.

She didn’t feel like talking but couldn’t bring herself to tell him to leave. He held out a flower towards her and said, “Look at this beautiful flower. It’s so pretty.” Lifting it to his nose, he added that it had a nice fragrance.

As she looked at the flower she noticed its petals were drooping and were somewhat ragged. Then she also saw that the boy was blind. And then, she said, it dawned on her. What she saw as nothing to be excited about he saw as beautiful.

Her words made me wonder about my own eyesight. What do I miss seeing because I’m looking at my surroundings with eyes that are closed instead of eyes that are open to the beauty all around me?

Children see the world in an entirely different way. Perhaps we would do well to see our world like they do -- simply.