Stopping along the way to play

Today I got to take my granddaughter out in the snow to make her first snowman and do her first snow angel. I would tell her that we needed more snow and I would turn around and she had walked 30 or 40 ft to get more when there was some right in front of her. She dredged through the snow carrying as much as she could and would laugh and giggle every time that she got close to me because she discovered how to throw a snow ball.
Needless to say the process of building the snowman was a bit of a long drawn out task. But she was in no hurry she was just enjoying taking her time and having fun. As she usually does, she made me think about how I wish I could apply her outlook on life to my own. She is in no hurry and felt no pressure to complete the job of finishing what we had started. I thought about how so many people complained about the snow, the road conditions and the nuisances that the snowfall had created. But not my granddaughter. She just played until she was freezing and her little legs were give out from walking and running in this new playground that she hadn't truly experienced before. She didn't focus on the snowman like I did (trying to make it just the right size and looking like something that would win a snowman contest) - to her it didn't matter whether it even got finished or not and she could have cared less how symmetrical that the parts of the snowman were. I would (I'm ashamed to say) get a little flustered at first because evidently I was basing more emphasis on creating the snowman than just enjoying doing it. Then as if one blow by a snowball had jarred some sense into me, I realized that it didn't matter what the snowman looked like - that what the important thing to do was look at the snow through her eyes.
How she looked at that snowman is how I need to look at life in general; that the basic things that we needed to build it were there and all we had to add to the equation was our time...in our own time. This is the philosophy that I should apply to my life - that I have all the essentials that I need to get through life- it just takes a little time and patience to make it work. And it's okay if along the way of getting the job done if I want to stop and play and not worry about what the final outcome will be, then I will enjoy it more. It doesn't always have to be perfect and I shouldn't worry about always making sure it's done right according to a blueprint. The end result will be what it's going to be so if I want to venture off the beaten path from time to time and take the scenic route to get to the next step [like she did when I would send her for more snow] then that's fine, because eventually it will get done.
My new years resolution was to start enjoying life more, to take more chances and to actually live life. Peyton reminded me of that today as we worked on the snowman and stopped to play along the way.
It's amazing what we can learn looking at life through the eyes of a child. It really is a playground out there - our lives that is; and if we want to stop and play and lose track of what our mission in life is...well that's okay- because when we lose focus of what we are supposed to be doing and just do what we want to...well that's when life really happens.

Leaving all my worries on Schoolhouse Hill

I am one of those people that worry about things entirely too much. Some times it’s a good thing; because it keeps me cautious and more aware of my actions and reactions. However, some times though it’s not really such a great thing. When you allow yourself to be consumed with worry a lot of times it prevents you from enjoying life. I have missed out on a lot of opportunities to have fun with my friends or my children because I worried so much about making a fool out of myself or basically killing myself in the process of whatever it was they were doing.

Well this year I have tried to take a different approach on life. I’m edging closer and closer to 50 and I have realized there are A LOT of things that I haven’t done in life. Some of those things I think can be negotiated if someone pushes hard enough and then there are some things I’m quite certain that no amount of money will persuade me to do them.

I have a horrible phobia of high places; so therefore roller coasters, sky diving and bungee jumping are pretty much excluded off the “I really want to try this and think I might” list. But the other things that are on my bucket list of things to do before I pass on are things that I am mustering up the courage more every day to do.

This past week we received an unexpected and welcomed snow to our area. With that snow comes the town tradition of closing off what we local natives refer to as "Schoolhouse Hill". It's a huge hill right in the middle of the town and when it snows people come out by the droves to sled off of it. Both kids and adults wear this hill out sledding off of it in everything from real sleds to car hoods and cooler lids - anything that they can improvise with. The sides of the hill are worn down from the endless amount of journeys back up the hill on foot dragging your "ride" behind you. 

I had never sledded off this hill all the years I had been growing up or even as an adult. So....after a little (well maybe a lot) of persuasion I bundled up in as many layers of clothing as I could and headed up there to try it out. Now one thing about me is I love to have fun - BUT when it involves the remote possibility of a broken limb....well I'm a little chicken. As I stood up at the top of the hill looking down I swear it looked 2 miles long! But after a little coaxing and a bit of praying for courage and a safe landing I hopped on the sled. After we took off and headed down the hill [at what seemed like 90 mph] I was horrified and I screamed to the top of my lungs and held on for dear life. And when we reached the bottom I couldn't believe it - I was ready to go again. After a few more times we wrapped it up and went in. The next night we were back out there again. This time I rode with a couple of my girlfriends for most of the rides. We crashed every time and were battered on every part of our bodies and I even peed my pants a time or two I hate to admit. But we kept on going and I don't remember ever laughing so much in a long time.

I was so glad that I took the chance, let go and just had some fun. I'm not sure what I enjoyed more the exhilaration and thrill of the ride or if it was leaving behind adulthood and all the worries that go with and just being a kid again. I think that is the hardest part of being a grown-up. We forget what life is really about - it's not the bills, the jobs that we may or may not like, the everyday struggles...life is meant to be enjoyed. It's meant to play and for that brief time that old schoolhouse hill was my playground.

One of my favorite quotes is "A child who does not play is not a child, but the man who does not play has lost forever the child who lived in him." ~ Pablo Neruda

I need to remind myself more everyday that it's alright to not always be a grown-up, that it's fine not to worry and that it's okay if I want to play because like someone else once said "you will find more happiness growing down than up."

The weatherman says it might snow again next weekend. If it does I'm heading out to play and I'm leaving all my worries on top of Schoolhouse Hill for a little while.