I just can't make up my mind.
I tend to go back and forth.
Let me bring you up to speed. I've been thinking a lot the last couple weeks about acceptable behavior and ettiquette. This has been brought on by watching others in my life who couldn't care less about it, let alone spell it (or even know that it exists!). Primarily, I am referring to a two-year-old, Kiera, and my 2-and-a-half-year-old labs, Sierra and Lucy.
Let's start with the dogs. We're currently visiting Leni's parents for the weekend. Aftering having several couples over for dinner at the 'rents house last night, our dogs, after the euphoria of new people (and Paul & Karisse's 3 other dogs) had worn off, were exhausted. When everyone else was still talking and milling about, they had uncharacteristically retreated to the back bedroom to escape the bustling activities out front. By about 10:00 PM, I really envied them. I too was tired from a long day and meeting new people and really just wanted to excuse myself, put on the PJs, get into bed and watch the news and then the Tonight Show. But being a member of the hosting household at the moment, that definitely would not have been kosher. Lucky dogs...no one cares what a dog does. Animals don't have the tabs kept on them the way people do. They can get away with a lot. They can express their needs most times and in a variety of different ways wheras people are held to much higher standards. Don't get me wrong...I'd much prefer being human than a dog. But there are days that being a dog has it's attractive points: sleeping 18 hours a day, being able to go to the bathroom pretty much wherever you want, being taken care of, etc.
Small children are very much the same. I spend a good deal of time eating meals with my camp director's daughter, Kiera, as I mentioned before. Man...this girl really has the life. If something upsets her, she cries and screams. As annoying as these types of behaviors are in small children at times, can you just imagine the freedom in being able to express your needs in the very moment that they become real? How often do we as adults realize we need something but find ourselves in situations where it cannot be shown or mentioned, either at that time or even ever? Not that I wish to be a one who wails constantly when my needs are not met, but I'll admit that there are those days when I think that laying on the floor while kicking and screaming might just make me feel better.
Never fear. I am not regressing. I like to think that I move forward in the way of maturity and undersatnding of social appropriateness. But growth is like climbing Mt. Everest. For every couple of steps up you take, you inevitably fall back one or two here and there as well. To those of you who understand this and even feel the same way, I feel ya. To those of you who have no understanding of this concept, maybe you need to just get on the floor and try it anyway. You are only fooling yourself.
1 month and 25 days until Leni graduates.
Keep It Real!
Oh yeah.
ReplyDeleteThe other night, as I drove home from the second choir rehearsal of the week, I shut off the radio so that I could turn my attention toward my ever-shrinking prayer life. It was refreshing--I totally talked out loud and didn't care if the guy driving next to me noticed or laughed. Ever notice that as adults, we sometimes listen in on children talking to themselves, reasoning out their thoughts, talking to imaginary friends or whatever? It's so cute! it's so sweet!! But when we see adults talking "to themselves," we almost always stop short of calling them crazy...
I surprised myself, though, by speaking aloud some of the hardships I've been experiencing lately, asking Him to help me carry my cross, and crying for Him to hold me. "Daddy," I said, "please just hold me in your arms..."
It is refreshing to allow the emotions and simpicity of childhood to peek through our spirits sometimes. He does want us to ask for what we need, to come to Him with the childlike faith that we all seem to lose as we grow and gain more of a concern for what others think of what we do and say. There's a time and a place for prudent ettiquite and proper behavior...and there's a time and a place to leave our pride and ego at the door and enter with meek humility.