Growing Up

It's funny how I find myself in this crisis and during this crisis of "growing up" I found an example of how to get through it from a 2 year old.


Today, I spent the day with my Aunt Terry and her friends at their house in Kissimmee. We got there and I was immediately hungry so I of course found myself engrossed 3 feet deep in food. After that I mingled and met a lot of people who I will be seeing more of considering my recent move into my Aunt's house. One of the women I had met was named Michelle and she had two boys, one of which she brought by the name of Brenan. I noticed the dirty tattered bandaids on Brenan's fingers and asked Michelle what had happened. She responded that Brenan got cuts on his fingers from crawling on the ground. Brenan's version of a crawl was not in fact a crawl at all but rather a scoot across the floor with his one leg dragging and used as more of a bumper. Now, most kids by the age of 2 can walk on their own. Brenan here was the fastest little scooter we had seen. It resembled something close to one of those monkeys with the diapers you see at your local pet store. As bizarre as it was, it was just as cute. Michelle had explained that Brenan started to walk on his own but fell once and was scared ever since to walk on his own again. So with the help of a hand, or a table he walked with two legs. Without the help, he became a human scooter.


I overheard Michelle and my aunt talking about how not only was it a fear he had but he had also let it become a habit because it was easier; he had begun to understand the act of laziness. This method of scooting was a way for him to get around without him ever having to use his other leg or to ever have to face his fear of falling again.


Towards the end of the night, my aunt decided she was going to try to get him to walk on his own... even if it were the three feet she distanced him from his mom. Brenan did it. And not only did he do it once, after encouragement and praisal- Brenan did it again and again. With every foot that went in front of the one that had just stepped, a smile was drawn from his two year old left ear to his two year old right ear. As simple as that task was, I could only think about how that reflected many difficult tasks we encounter everyday.


As a society in today's time, we look for the easiest way out. Not only because we accept laziness with open arms, but because we are afraid of a fall, a failure. Brenan may not have known that by dragging his leg he could potentially off set his balance and bone structure being that he is so young and still growing but the fact of the matter is, is that if we continue to take the quickest possible way out of things- we can potentially off set the balance of a healthy routine and habits in our lives. The start of something good will always bring the better karma; the start of something bad only leads to a domino effect of worse things to come.


If a 2 year old can regain the courage to walk after the only traumatic event in his life, a fall, then anyone can regain the strength to realize that we have the ablitiy to do anything. But with such great power, we are blinded by laziness and meaningless routines we end up calling priorities. Those who see past the tempting obstacles are the ones who truly achieve a life well lived and are the ones who deserve it most.


I may be just a college student and have spent the last year drinking like a fish but in life- its not about how many shots you can take at a bar, its how many shots you can take in life to get to where you want to be. Its not how long you can hold a keg stand but how long you can stand for what you believe in. A tequila shot can never get me where I want to be in life. Its only a feeling that can last so long. I don't know where I want to go or what I want to do but I want to figure out what direction, and if that's the hardest path taken, at least I know it will lead to the happiest ever after I'll ever know.