Life Lessons from the Young

There's so much perspective to life when you view it from three-feet high.

Yesterday could've been a bad day. The earth was shattering, the sky was breaking and all I wanted to do was have a good solid think about things. But some stupid little ray of sun came out of nowhere and tickled me till I admitted that meditative moping is overrated. And then it promptly threw me out the door with a camera in hand.

"You can't possibly pass up an opportunity to take photos of little kids", it challenged me.

And it's true. I can't. Sunsets are pretty to take photos of, but little children are irresistible. Especially when they're scurrying around in the evenings, dancing in the rain before their mothers come out into their balconies with their hands on their hips (and extremely stern words on their lips).

And then I realised -- for the hundred and twenty-eighth time at least -- that there's so much wisdom in those little jumping beans that it would take a lifetime to write down. Sure, people have tried (remember all those forwards about stuff kids say about love and life?). But it would take forever.

So here are just five things. They're not the only things by any means, but they're simple and pretty darn great to remember anyway.

1. Dream. Climb. Repeat. Every next step counts, and there's no end to the places you can go. Cheese, much? Only 'cause it's true!

2. If you can, help people out when they ask (and even when they don't). It probably means much more to them than it does to you. I asked Diya and her friends to climb up to the slide for me and they obliged me in a second. So think of them and put a smile on someone's face, won't you?

3. Talk to people. Learn their names. Use them. You might actually enjoy listening to their stories -- especially if they're as fantastically far from reality as Diya's -- and they'll love that you care. Win-win!

4. Keep your loved ones close. Because at the end of the day, who else could you possibly want with you to enjoy the view?

5. The worst weather often brings the best skies. All that silver lining stuff? Yeah, that. If you feel a storm coming, keep your head up, make the most of it. In my case, that usually means stepping out like a crazy person with a camera and pretending to be a photographer.
(It kind of worked, I guess. All these photos are unedited. Though they're nothing compared to this.)

And finally, a reminder.

6. Take out the time to enjoy the view! Because if you're too busy looking down at where you're going, you'll miss out on the wonderfully organic, changing landscape of your life. And baby, you only live once. Hashtag.