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Seasons of Adult
My birthday is in September and I am officially what I consider to be old. I have 3 school aged kids and as I've mentioned I'm going back to school starting Monday the 24th.
I'll be attending night school so I am going to assume that there will be a lot of older adults there compared to younger ones. We are all adults but we are in such different seasons.
When I was young, everything was new and I could afford to be slightly reckless. At least that is what I thought. I made some foolish choices. I dated and married the first person who I was ever serious with, knowing that this man was troubled. I alienated my friends an
d my parents; I chose this and was encouraged to do so too. True, I was on my own and working, but I had no sense at the start. I had plenty of sense by the time I divorced.
I was alone for a time and then met my current husband. We enjoyed being double income no kids, we had children and life swirled around us as our babies became toddlers became preschoolers became grade schoolers.
My season of adult was not what I had imagined it would be when I was a child. But again, it's better than I thought it would be too. True, there are many who would judge my life right now as boring and meaningless, as we wrap our lives around our church and our children.
But what I have found in this season is the ability to look at small things and be amazed. When my children were small they would see things new, like the grass, bugs, flowers, colors. I would get to see things new through them and I enjoyed them more than when I was young. They are older now, my youngest is in third grade, but I was given that gift of wonder. I still get excited about the first butterfly in the garden and the coccoon that's attached to our hillybilly golf set. I watch for the meteors and saw nothing but the beautiful moon between the trees of our yard.
And I have found myself sitting outside in the early morning with a cup of coffee, listening to the birds and thinking, "This is amazing." I shoved aside thoughts of my father doing the same thing, but then, he also had that gift of wonder.
I hope that I'll be able to pass that on too.
10 comments:
congrats on the new step in life...
A wonderful season to be in.
Quin-thank you!
Dee-sometimes it is!
I officially left school in 1982...I probably started learning the same year...still learning...in the school of life.
I, too, feel like one of the downsides of adulthood is not feeling that wonder that kids feel. Here's to trying to recapture it--either through our own children, or just through trying to stay in the moment and marvel at the world.
You're so right about finding that sense of wonder again form your kids. It can be magical.
This is a deep and enjoyable read.
yea we could be reckless and get away easy..
my god i loved those times.
now everytime i make a boo boo i m shot!
Partly Adult, Largely Corrupt
Nicely done. And good luck to you on school. I don't know that I have it in me to go back ('tho I'd never tell my own that).
Capturing that wonder is so important... and often it's as simple as paying attention to the here and now. We miss so many little beautiful moments because our time-is-money culture has taught us to believe only BIG THINGS with price tags attached to them have any real meaning. This is so untrue! The most beautiful, worthwhile things I know are often the unexpected tiny miracles I notice in the most everyday things while going about my daily business. Look! You will see it too.
life cannot be boring if it is wrapped around church and children. you know true happiness. those that think it is boring usually end up wishing they had done the same thing. beautiful thoughts
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