Ellie runs in, a sweaty mess, covered in sand and dirt from head to toe.  She just flashes in for a second to grab a headlamp, as night settles on the campground and she runs off to play “Dragon tag” with Daddy and her sisters.  We’ve cut down toys to simply books and a few stuffed animals, and a sheet that magically transforms from a tent roof to dragon wings.  The girls live their days hiking, biking, swimming, and swinging in hammocks.  The world is their canvas for creative play.
We canoed a river this week, seeing alligators, turtles, fish, monkeys…yes even monkeys.  I spent the day relaxing with family and soaking in the wildlife.  Every animal we saw was simply being.  Basking in the sun and sitting in silence.  Even the monkeys walked to the water for their own moments of solitude.
As we map out our travels, we have to step back and remember to pave the way, then stop and play. Â I’m learning how to plan when there is no destination. Â We simply soak in what we can as we find it.
 I don’t want to get life over with – I want to find life in all I do.
This quote spoke to me.  Once again, our children teach us.  I love to watch how they get lost in their own world of play.  I don’t ever want to take that away from them.
Be sure to live.
Live right now and soak things in like a child entranced by a caterpillar. Â Pave the way, but stop to play.
Do children dawdle and get distracted when we are rushing from one place to the next, or are they simply soaking in the experience they feel in the moment?
Give yourself time to dawdle.  Allow time to sit.  Live right now, not just tomorrow.
So true- you have to be intentional about that lag time because otherwise you’ll just stress more! Great point.
Thank you for this. Perfectly timed reminder in my life.
The time to dawdle needs to be built into the schedule and valued or it doesn’t happen, at least not if you are still going to get where you are going on time and without stress.
I love that – so true!
I agree!! There are so many “walking dead” around- I’m so grateful to be able to soak up this life and enjoy every bit of it.
I’m seeing many of my peers who have finished living even though they are still breathing. Personally I want to continue to find life in every day in everything I do. Thanks for the reminder.
I love this. I think this all of the time. When I’m out and about, children are always smiling at me and talking to me. Adults, at best, ignore me. Sometimes they yell at me for being an inconvenience to their day. We should try to be more like children in this way.
And the reverse is true. When babies are out in public, all the adults smile at them and talk to them. So if was can’t behave like children, we could try to see everyone as a baby. At the very least, imagining it will make you smile!