Everything I’ve Learned About Life, I Learned from a One Year Old

Believe it or not, there are several life lessons that we adults can learn just by watching and listening to our children. Here are three things I have learned just by sitting and watching my niece.

1.) The Best Things in Life Are Simple

This evening I was babysitting my niece and at one point I looked over at where she was playing happily in front of me on the floor only to notice that she had taken two of her blocks and was banging them loudly together. It was such a simple thing yet it amused her greatly for several minutes. I remember trying to figure out how such a simple little thing could be so amusing when I realized something: not everything in life has to be so elaborate and fancy. Why can’t everyone just learn to take a few minutes out of their day to just enjoy the simpler things? I remember being a child and lying out on the driveway picking out unusually shaped clouds and trying to imagine what I thought they looked like, or trying to catch as many lightning bugs (or fireflies for those of us who do not know what a lightning bug is) as I could and placing them in a jar. Now it seems that everyone is so wrapped up in themselves and their day to day things that they do not take the time out to want to stop and bang their own blocks together just for a moment. I myself have been trying to do that more often (literally and figuratively if I were to be truly honest. It is much better than tripping over them, believe me!) I think it has helped me tremendously.

2.) Learn Something New Everyday

Every time I turn around it seems like my little niece is learning something new. One day it was crawling, the next it was talking. Pretty soon she will be up and walking around the house on her own and I am not so sure what I will do in order to keep up with her then. I have come to the realization that it is important to try and learn something new every day. Maybe you are like me and you want to learn how to write better or maybe you want to learn a new language. It does not matter what it is, but learning a little something new every single day can not only stimulate you mentally it can also open up a whole lot of doors (and maybe even some windows) that you never knew were there before. There is always something new out there!

3.) Laughter really is the best medicine.

I do not know how many times I have heard that saying over the years. Since my niece has gotten old enough to really begin doing things, I have found that I seem to be laughing a lot more often (several times a day in fact). Sometimes we seem to have what I call “laugh fests” where it usually only takes a small giggle from her (or me) to get us both going for several minutes at a time. I think it is always good to find some sort of way to relax and forget your troubles even if it is only for a few minutes at a time and laughter really seems to be one of the best ways to do this. I think that if we could all find something to laugh about every once in awhile (as long as it is not something cruel) then the world would be a much better place for it.

Of course these three things are just a few of the things I have learned in the past year by watching my niece grow up. There are plenty more things that I have learned and am still continuing to learn every single day that I am with her. I personally hope that neither one of us ever stops learning and hopefully you will not either.


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