At one time we were all small. We always looked up – to those older, to those we admire, to the whole world around us. Today I took my daughter and her two children, 4 ½ and 2, to see some property that my son had recently purchased to build a home. The front is a rolling hay field, then a steep bank covered by woods (and at this time of year tall brush and weeds) and sort of a meadow with a creek at the bottom of the hill. With the idea of a creek to see, the kids headed down the hill. The youngest insisted on walking by herself in her ‘by myself attitude’ – just like her hero, her big brother. She took off across some underbrush because it was the shortest direction to seeing her other hero, her mother. Then it got deeper. She started looking up and back because she really couldn’t see anything ahead. This is a woods that only covered about 2 acres of the land and an adult can easily see from front to back. All of a sudden – my daughter dropped to her knees and started looking up. “You know,” she said, “ at this height it looks like a dark forest out here.”
How many times do we forget that a view from a different angle can put a slant on our perspective? It isn’t only the young but the shorter people, those in wheelchairs, crippled over and not standing straight. At 5 foot 11 inches I always felt tall as I grew. Once I had children of my own, I realized how tall this next generation of teenagers was and I felt much shorter.
As we age, most of us shrink some but it doesn’t get us down to the level of young children or those in wheelchairs. When we do get on a lower level and look up, what do we see? Do we see the beautiful sky and clouds, the leaf covered canopy of the woods? Or do we see limbs that need trimmed, leaves that will fall, and a storm coming in? We need to look for the good. Relax when we can, play in the woods, run to the creek. Look up to your heroes. Do you still have heroes? We’re never too old for heroes.
A hero, a dream, and a positive outlook are like looking up from the level of a child. You can still see the possibility, work toward your goals, and have the energy you need to move on. You get the energy from the momentum to generate when you dream and set goals to reach the height of your hero.
