I was a baby
a long, long
time ago.
~ My niece, almost four
I had an a-ha moment a
few years ago when I was
lamenting how fast the
summer had flown by.
Why, I thought, did the
summers of my childhood
seem to go on forever, but
as I got older they seemed
shorter and shorter?
Then it dawned on me.
A year to a two-year old
is half of her life.
A year to a ten-year old
is 1/10th of her life.
A year to a forty-year old
is 1/40th of her life.
A teeny, tiny slice.
You see where this is going.
I just returned from a family
reunion where I was blessed
to spend time with my cousins
and their children. In technical
terms, their kids are my first
cousins, once removed, meaning
that my grandparents were
their great-grandparents.
The youngest two in attendance,
little girls ages just turned three
and almost four ~ who were
babies a long, long time ago ~
gave me some brush up lessons.
On living life.
Here are just a few of the
things that they taught me.
If a color makes you happy,
wear it every day.
Eat cupcakes with gusto.
When you love someone,
give spontaneous hugs.
Often.
Don't sit still. Life means
moving all the time.
A huge belly laugh
feels soooooo good.
Twirling is essential to
an excellent day.
Bugs are very, very cool.
Being oldest and tallest
is best. {Works for me : )}
Fancy shoes are not for
special occasions. Every
day is a special occasion!
As we get older and our
baby days truly are a long,
long time ago, it's easy to
become immune to the simple
pleasures of being alive.
Maturity makes us too self-
conscious for twirling, belly laughs
or spontaneous hugs.
But DOES growing up
have to mean growing OLD?
Or can we keep a three-year
old's sense of wonder and
glee in our hearts?
I love this quote
by Albert Einstein:
Jessica Rose via Etsy
When we stop
moving forward ~
learning
pushing ourselves
trying new things
then we let ourselves
become old.
Yes, physically it gets
more challenging as we
age; that is an implacable
fact that can't be denied.
But we determine the age
we choose to be inside.
The magic number.
So this week, follow the lead
of my little cousins....
wear your happy color ~
take a twirl.... or two or three ~
get frosting on your face.
Re-discover your own
magic number.
And keep moving forward.
xx
Suzanne
35 comments:
Another beautiful post Suzanne! I love everything you write. No surprise there! xxoo
Tears sprang in to my eyes (as they often do!) when reading this post, in fact I have just had to brush them away to see what I am typing. Is it the message in your post, so very true, or the darling shiny faces of those little cousins of yours that set me off, or indeed the fact that I feel so very far from 3 this morning. Perhaps a combination, BUT I am going to follow your advice to the letter - hugs, twirls and frosting here I come.
This is such a sweet post! Your little cousins are so cute. I love the message and I think I will do a twirl or two today!
Not this week, but soon, I will post on something similar using a quote that I believe I came up with.....I have been pondering the wonderful feeling I have been having, due in great part to being OFF from school and IN SPITE OF recent back problems. But a chiropractor has SOLVED that problem for me in tandem with my faithfulness to prescribed exercises. But what I have deduced after having felt that THIS SUMMER REMINDED ME OF MY CHILDHOOD is that I have had the rare opportunity to STOP and EXAMINE a dragonfly. I have STOPPED long enough to really SEE other wonders of nature as well as the COMMUNITY of like-minded people and to simply take a nap, watercolour in my garden and scribble. TIME. RELISH TIME. DANCE WHEN YOU WISH, WRITE A POEM. Childhood.
LOVE YOUR MIND!
Anita
I adore the way you write about LIFE .Your thoughtful post reminds me of Pablo Neruda's poem :"...You start dying slowly if you do not travel,...if you do not wear different colors ,if you avoid to feel passion and their turbulent emotions , if you do not go after a dream..." In other words , if you lost the kid in you .I like to imagine sitting down for lunch with my younger self and seeing if she would like me.Your message is timeless...This Sunday I followed the lead of my son and ate lots of , lots of ice cream :) Keep up the energy , dear Suzanne!You are an inspiration !
What a gorgeous and insightful post, Suzanne. All so true! J x
well if those aren't the best rules to live by. maybe i will put on a summer dress today and twirl all day. sounds perfect to me.
Such a great reminder! Kids can teach us the best lessons sometimes - lighten up, enjoy life, laugh and have fun. And you're right - why do we become so self-conscious as we age? I think that's the start of becoming boring. xo
What a lovely and refreshing reminder to enjoy each day!
Ah, that's a sweet post! And you are quite right about the age thingy making the time go faster... never thought of that.
I like your music too.
Off to do a twirl. x
I LOVE this post Suzanne. The thoughts thsat went into it, the words, the photos to capture it,truly makes the blog post awesome.
Thanks for once again sharing your heart, inspiring me as a reader and maybe just maybe pushing me to add some color back into mtg life. Ha
Love my age for the wisdom I've garnered, but love even more that inside I feel like I'm in my 30's, just a babe yet instead of my true age. :)
Gretchen
Oh, I love this post. It all makes sense about the aging and how fast time goes. I am 60 and sometimes remind myself that life is getting shorter and shorter. I won't twirl today as I would fall down, hah, only because I have vertigo today. Maybe another day. I think it would be fun to tear into a cupcake and get it all over my face, hah.
little girls can teach us all something. i need to eat a cupcake, hug spontaneously and twirl a little more. loved that print. i'm off now to buy one!!
I still twirl.. even at the age of almost-60! Thank goodness I still have that going for me. I love the Albert Einstein quote! We have a scholar impersonating him in our Theatre at our annual Chautauqua event on Sept. 17 and since I'm more "aware" of Einstein now, I find myself loving his quotes, and I've never read this one before. So thanks! Today I'll eat cupcakes, rub my belly, put on my fancy shoes and twirl, twirl, twirl. xoxo Amy
These little girls already know what we've forgotten! Bless their tutus, sparkly shoes, unabashed enthusiasm and love of bugs!!
My 6 year old and his buddy have been fascinated with this hairy green catepillar today! So cute to watch. Reminds me that we're all really big kids with grown up issues.
My magic number (as a child) would be 6. That was a really good year.
xoxo Elizabeth
So true Holly! How observant you are to pick up on the wonder of a three year old. I shall listen to this important message...........adorable. XO
Dinner guest recently included 4-year-old and a 1-1/2-year-old girls. What a sheer delight they were, and seeing how they saw things in my house in a new light was such fun! Have to remember that.
xo Cathy
now this has to be one of my favorite posts. I am beginning to really think it is in the wonder of children that we are to be...all through life! Love this!
Happy almost...Wednesday:) May your day be so blessed
xo
Delightful read Suzanne! We should all think like children when it comes to doing what feels good.......i love what you learned from them, great advice for anyone!!
this is so sweet, i know what you mean. the children really remind us how we should try to enjoy life and stay young. my littlest is just five so we still have plenty of wonder over the simplest things......it rained all day here and it was such a great day. we made bracelets, played pictionary, played cards. i'm trying to soak in these last weeks of summer with the kids. thank you for inspiring me when i visit, you are such a treasure! xo suz
I couldn't agree with you or these adorable little ones any more!
I have to giggle because I have a hard time sitting still for long...despite the fact that I know I NEED to right now!
I have to laugh because I've had so many good belly laughs in the past few weeks it hurts. No literally I don't think my belly can take it anymore...haha!
My daughter won't know the sound of my voice when she enters into this world, but she will know the sound of my laughter!
I smile because I like the idea that being oldest and tallest is best....
and ultimately, no I don't want to grow OLD.
I want to remember that no matter the number of candles on my cake (that I plan to eat with gusto...) age is just a number, but spirit and heart can be forever young!
Missing you!
Biz
***Oh, how MUCH I ALWAYS love to come visit you, Sweet Suzanne!!!
* You may recall we were never blessed with children... so "everyone's kids" were "mine/ours" in a way!!! ... And now that our dear NIECES have children of THEIR own, I TRULY am often seeing life in such a "different way"... Heavens, but they're precious, as they see joy and wonder in ALL things "new" to them!!!
* ...And don't even get me STARTED on BABIES!!! My Jim is getting EMBARRASSED because I just can't "LOOK" at a baby without "oohing n' ahhing" and, well, probably making a bit of a fool of myself... Then I tell/remind myself: If that's the "WORST" thing I ever do in my life, I truly A*M a lucky girl!!!
You've always had that "extra special SOMETHING", Suzanne, that simply manages to warm me from within, and put a soft, contented smile on my face... and as always, I thank you, my friend...
XO,
Linda in AZ *
bellesmom1234@comcast.net
Loved every word Suzanne, here's to twirling and cupcakes:-)
Tracey
Ohhh Suzanne, I love this. It almost made me cry for some strange reason. Maybe because I feel so old or because I see my children growing up so quickly too. I think your theory on why time seems so go by fast as we get older is right on :)
Love your post, love you! My next birthday I think I'll be 24! (By the way, I'm wearing yellow today, MY happy color!)
Best,
Susan
so very much to learn from children. and moving forward reminds me of that great bethenny dillon song.
taking this as permission to get frosting on my face today.
love.
michele
oh my goodness, how absolutely precious!!
sparkly fun wearing cupcake eating sweetness!!
oh to have the heart of a child
xo
I have been gone from blogging for a few days and have missed it! THIS post, my friend, is unbelievably fabulous!!! I LOVE your images and I LOVE your thoughts. Just yesterday I was on the phone with my 12 year old niece and even she was commenting on how fast the summer has gone and how quickly time flies.
I remember as a child how LONG it seemed to take to change the year on the top of your school papers, didn't it?!?!? Life is much too fast paced these days - for all of us!
(Those little sandals are to die for!)
Ah, I love hanging out with kids. I have had to borrow some since we moved to Chicago.
Fondly,
Glenda
Adorable post!!! We can learn a lot from children....they teach me something new everyday at school. I think I need to twirl more! xoxoxo HUGS
Precious little angels and you captured their essence perfectly with your fab photo skills my friend. ;)
xo~
T
Oh Suzanne what cutie pies your little cousins are! I too will be going to a family picnic this weekend and I think I shall wear something that twirls, or at least my favorite color. I would so love to get frosting all over my face. Wonderful post! xoxo ~Lili
Perfectly said, Suzanne. You are so gifted with being able to evoke emotion and memories with your written words!
It's tricky to type whilst twirling but I'll give it my best shot....thank you for this fabulous reminder.
I have been gifted with one precious nieces (who as it happens is 3) and I learn from her every time we are together.
Happy day Lovely,
xx Felicity
Oh, what a wonderful occasion! This was simply the best! These are walking, talking, twirling angels!
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