A Toddler’s Lesson on Mindfulness
Sometimes life lessons come from unexpected places–like my toddler.
We recently went for a family hike, a path I’ve walked dozens of times. I know how quickly it normally takes me to get from Point A to Point B, and I’ll typically power through the trail to get to the “good part”.
My toddler, however, had a different approach. To him, everything was the good part. Every branch, every rock, every piece of moss or fallen leaf was something to marvel at. He passionately inspected everything and asked questions about it all. He learned lessons on nature and trail safety, while also unintentionally teaching me a lesson on life: slow down.
The Journey or the Desination?
You see, I started out the hike really enthusiastic about his curiosity and blossoming enthusiasm for nature. A few minutes in, I was ready to get back to my usual pace and not have to stop to look at yet another rock. I was starting to get antsy to get to the end, and felt myself wanting to rush us along. Isn’t that what we often do? Get so set on getting to the destination that we forget to notice the beauty of the journey.
In life this can look like:
Rushing through the week just to get to the weekend
Wanting to skip past this annoying semester or frustrating job
Thinking, once I get _______ I’ll be happy
But if we’re always skipping through our journey, how much of life are we actually aware of and able to enjoy?
There is so much life to be lived in the in between moments. So, next time you find yourself wanting to fast forward through something, take a page out of my toddler’s book and take note of all of the ordinary things you’d normally glance over. You may find that there is a lot of magic to be found in the mundane.
