Elated Joy

I spend parts of my days watching my youngest son try to figure out crawling. He’ll push himself up as high as he can on his hands, stick his tongue out to the side, then lunge forward and kick his legs as fast as he can. Watching his older brother speed around throughout our days has convinced him that fast is best. But, despite the immense amount of effort, he pushes himself back up on his hands only to find he has not moved an inch.

But he smiles, and he tries again.

And I smile, as I enjoy watching him try to figure this crawling thing out.

One day, as I sat with my boys watching this play unfold, it struck me how, somewhere, we often lose the elated joy of learning something new. At some point, we become much more concerned with the outcome versus watching in awe as we piece things together along the road to “figuring it out.” We get frustrated when things take time and lose patience with ourselves and the process. We look on, in jealousy, at people who are further along than we are, rather than in awe and appreciation at those who can be there to help guide us.

I’m sure frustration, anger, and disappointment will enter my youngest son’s emotional vocabulary soon enough, but, for now, he’s reminding me to have more joy, gratitude, excitement, and patience enter my emotional vocabulary. Where in your life are you rushing through the motions to obtain an end goal? Can you find space to slow down and truly enjoy the process?