In the moment

If you ever wanted to get back to the present moment, there is no easier way than spending time with a child.  I took 6 year old Carter with me to work last week.  I was simply making an appearance and a co-worker offered to let him watch her TV while I did some paperwork.  I thought I was doing a nice thing for him, letting him tag along.  I soon realized that our trip to work would be wonderful for me.
About half  way down a very long hall, Carter announced that he couldn't step on any white floor tiles.  This had us hopping around an laughing until we turned the corner to find all white.  He looked at them and declared it was alright.  These tiles had blue mixed in with the white.  Whew!  On the way out, Carter announced that he had only 3 lives left.  When he started loosing lives, he decided that the blue tiles gave him a life.  Whew!  At the end of the final hall, he evened everything out and ended up with only one life.  Then, of course, he got to push the button on the elevator. 
Today, I spent some time with a 3 year old who became very excited about hanging clothes out to dry.  She fetched a chair to stand on so she could help.  Of course, she wanted a different bag to hold her clothes pins.  We then spent about 4 times as long hanging up clothes as it would have normally taken.
Both of these times (among many others) have brought me back to what is really important in this world.  In a job where people's health and well being are dependent on me, I can remember not to take myself so seriously.  I, now, walk up and down the halls avoiding the white squares.  If I see wrinkles in the clothes, I can know that beautiful little hands helped hang them up.  She did it with such care and pride.
Life is so full of stuff.  Some days, I feel inundated with all of the bad stuff going around.  Some days, I even spend a little time feeling sorry for myself.  I am beginning to come to terms with how much of my time is wasted on all of the bad side of things.  I have been challenged by someone to start focusing on the bright side.  A few more days hanging out with the amazing kids might just be the ticket!  Plus, I get to have some adult fun tonight going to a concert.  I'm about to get my dance on.  Watch out!