Life Should Be Curious, Fearless...And Creative

As I watch my daughter become acquainted with the world around her each day, I am reminded of how much there truly is to discover in our world. It is so amazing to watch her become her own person, full of enthusiasm that refuses to be dampened! While it is certainly true that we do lose the "wonder" of childhood, I think that it is far more dehibilitating that we lose our curiousity, creativity, and courage. Upon this epiphany I realized that there is much God wants to teach me through my daughter; I need but to listen.

These thoughts came to me in meditation recently as I have been contemplating some career pursuits that would require me to "go out on a limb" of sorts. Some of these pursuits would put me at risk for failure in some measure. I find myself realizing just how unwilling I am to face that possibility. Then I contrast myself with my pure, innocent, trusting daughter. Lucy never considers failure; she does not even recognize failure as an option. Lucy keeps trying until she obtains her goal; until her failure becomes success. Once success is acheived, does anyone even remember the "failures" along the way? Then what is there to be afraid of? I need to learn from her courage. The only thing lost if I do not try is what could have been...success.

Lucy can play with the same small toy over and over again, all day long, and yet she still thinks up new and (apparently) fascinating things to do with it. Just this morning she decided that she will now play with her Drop N' Roar Dinosauer with her feet. (Above) She had a grand time moving the different parts about with her toes, watching the activity from a reclining position while chewing on a teething toy. Now I'm not positing the need to start using our feet for completing tasks (although a very entertaining way to kill some time), but rather that sometimes life will only provide different answers with a little creativity! In short, sometimes ya gotta look at things from a different angle! The same location and position usually provides the same view...all of the time. I need to color outside the lines, or at least redefine where the lines are. I need to learn from her creativity.

I think that we all wish we spent more time indulging our curiousity in good pursuits. It's important to learn a new skill, figure out what makes people tick, attempt something a little bit outrageous. We need to feed our curiousity to avoid becoming stagnant. It is truly this static existence that robs us of the joy life has to offer. I need to imitate Lucy's curiousity.

Of course, I don't plan to start putting every item that passes through my hands into my mouth, or touching people faces, pulling their hair, licking their watches, or scratching every possible surface with my nails. I'll leave those methods of exploration to Lucy! However, Lucy is God's little reminder to me to live life! Be courageous! Take chances! Use your intelligence and skills! Don't be afraid of what you can do! She is God's reminder to me that the same way He is watching over her in her living life fully and with confidence, He is also watching over me.