Tuesday, October 3, 2023
Very few people have the patience for juvenility. They don’t recognize death, either. But life is cycling. You have to pay attention to the cycles that you are moving through. Don’t abort new and delicate ideas and possibilities, simply because you don’t think you can “start over.” Also, getting something in fully-mature form is a total letdown. I don’t want to win the lottery. I wouldn’t be ready, and I’d miss the joy of seeing my idea unfold and perhaps actualize into something bigger and better than a windfall.
Plant a fully-mature tree, and you deny yourself the joy of cultivating the soil, planting the seed, and doting over it for a while. Land a job as a CEO, and you’d miss working your business from the ground floor, making it as you wish it to be. It’s beautiful and fulfilling to parent something, especially an idea or a fledgling skill. What I love most about my backyard is that I planted just about every single one of those trees and plants when they were just saplings. I’ve enjoyed watching them all grow. I enjoy watching my labor become fruitful – the benefits are more lasting.
Older adults are often too proud to enter the juvenile stages of learning to play the piano, for example. They think the beginning method books are for children. But, you have to enter like a child. Start over, and you’ll awaken wonderment. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you can’t begin anew. Getting started later in life allows you to use your parental wisdom to nurture your inner child. You have the best of both worlds at your disposal – patience and child-like immaturity. Before you set off into a new venture, are you willing to awaken and nurture your inner child? If you do, you’ll find patience and an inner aliveness that will give you new energy and sustaining fulfillment.