Bumps, Bruises and Happiness

Last month, I wrote about 20 Things I Learned from My Toddler. I had so much fun with the post and genuinely learned so much in the process that this week, I would like to expand on some of of the points. Starting with the first one:

Just because you bumped your head a few minutes ago and still have a big red mark, there is no reason to dwell on it. Keep on playing and having fun.

Sometimes I think that my son is made of rubber. He’ll bang his head on the edge of a piece of furniture in a way that would have me holding my head and cussing. But, he’ll make a funny face, put his hand on his head for a second or two, then go back to whatever adventure he was pursuing. Sometimes he will just laugh and move on. Even if he does really hurt himself and looks to mommy and daddy for consolation, it’s still less than a minute before he goes running off, bumps, bruises and all.

It is as if he knows this secret that we adults work so hard to understand: if I choose to be happy and focus on things that make me happy, I will be happy and life will be great and wonderful fun.

Somewhere along the way, we grow up and forget this. Somehow, we learn that when something bad happens, we should worry about it and mull it over for a while. We learn that if someone angers us, if things are not what we expect them to be or if we do not have what we want, we can not be happy.

At two years old, my son is teaching me how simple it is to be happy and fulfilled and that letting go of the past is not a deep, complex process. Just because events of the past effect the present and the marks and scars are still there, does not prevent us from making the most of this moment.