No Brainer!

Some days as I watch others deal with struggles and conflict (and myself at times) I want to scream “get down from that tree and you might see the forest.”  What is it about adults that make the most mundane or simplistic tasks so complicated?  Some things are just what my son would call a “no brainer”. We complicate love, we complicate eating, we complicate work, we complicate communicating, we complicate being happy. Have you ever watched that program “Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?”  I am amazed at how much children know and understand while adults spend hours on end trying desperately to “get a clue!”  Children understand what it means to share.  They understand what it means to help one another.  When they are sad they cry.  When they are happy they jump, skip, hop and dance and never once worry if someone is watching. When they are afraid, they seek out refuge.  When they are hungry they eat, when they are sleepy, they take a nap.  When they are angry, they let it out and then they hug and make up.  When they need love, they simply crawl up into the lap of someone who has a ready embrace and a soft place to land for a bit. They understand that two is better than one, that if you want an “A” on your report card or a star by your name you have to study, they know you will never win if you don’t get in the game and that cheating isn’t really winning; and they understand that no one likes bitter but everyone loves sweet.  They avoid biting dogs, they recognize a bully when they see him, they know the difference between real and make believe, genuine and fake; they hold hands when crossing the street and find courage in numbers.  I could go on, but you get the point.

Last Christmas my brother was taking snapshots of the family. One shot was of me and my son.  My brother was standing a fair distance from us.  And he was using his “smart” phone to take the pictures.  He decided that the shot was too far away and wanted to get a close up shot of us.  He fumbled with the phone for a couple of minutes, touching the screen trying to find out where the zoom setting was.  He said, “I want to get closer but I don’t know how!”  Well that struck me as hilarious.  I simply grabbed him by the arm and pulled him closer to us.  “Problem solved” I said as we all burst into laughter!  We laughed for an hour until tears flowed.  Life really isn’t that complicated is it?  Reaching our goals, doing what we love, getting along, playing fair, treating each other with respect, following the rules, being considerate.  My goodness!  We learned ALL of that by the time we were five years old!  So where do we keep going wrong?  Where do we miss the mark and fall short?  Why do we struggle so much? Perhaps it’s time to stop trying to climb a tree to see where we are; just start walking and you’ll know.  You’re in a lovely forest! Somehow it all makes sense step by step…