It started out as our normal mother/daughter day at the park. A little walk around, playtime on the adventure playground and a picnic with all of little NuNu’s favourite finger foods. It turned out to be much more than that in just a simple moment.
As we were about to leave the park a look of determination crossed NuNu’s face, she wailed with excitement and pointed and squealed. I looked over and saw nothing more than a bird hopping about on the ground (presumably looking for leftovers). NuNu saw it as something she wanted. I watched as she walked slowly, unsteadily trotting behind the bird in HOPES of getting a closer look or possibly to catch it.
She has seen plenty of birds fly away and this bird wasn’t any different. She followed that bird for a while, her little legs getting tired but she kept going. Eventually she stops as the bird flies away, she turned to me with a look of disappointment, loses her balance and plops to the ground. She didn’t cry but she jumped back up and found another bird. There is no doubt in my mind if I had allowed her to she would have stayed at the park trying to catch birds until late in the evening.
A child, so small, new to the world, has the ABILITY to teach us many things and one of them is a lesson in PERSEVERANCE. Since then, I’ve noticed that when we have our park dates she gravitates towards the birds and she keeps on trying. I allow her and I don’t dare tell her that she can’t.
Undoubtedly the world of a child is filled with more retorts of NO, STOP IT, and YOU CAN’T DO THAT, than any other stage of life but somehow they still try and they also know how to KEEP MOVING FORWARD with little to no idea of what the outcome will be. In that moment in the park, my 18 month old gave me a boost of CONFIDENCE without saying a word.
As adults sometimes we get dismayed, we need cheering squads, someone to say that we CAN do it but really most of the power to chase our dreams and at least TRY comes from WITHIN. So, the next time you feel as if you are one step from giving up, if you are feeling a lack of motivation or you feel as if you are drowning in a sea of No’s and shut doors, channel the will and determination of your inner child. The fearless one, the one that keeps going against all of the NO’s knowing that maybe just maybe you can catch that flying bird.
It always seems impossible until it’s done -Nelson Mandela
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