Children Are So Bold – What About You?
I was sitting in the large communal eating space at a local Whole Foods the other day.
The place was crowded with folks stopping in from the nearby offices. The whole area was
I came in, found an out of the way spot for my lunch and I pulled out my laptop to write.
A little while later a young family of five came in and they really needed one of the large tables to sit together, but the place was already full.
The kids did what kids often do, they walked fearlessly from table to table exploring the different spaces to find a place for the whole family to sit together.
Right in front of me, they found a large communal table with eight tall chairs. Three of the stools were taken by individuals having their own quiet lunch as they stared into their phones. The kids did the math, 8-3= 5. Yep, this table will work.
Each of the kids found an open stool. It didn’t matter who they were sitting next to, but from my vantage point, it looked like an invasion as they each scampered up to sit on their stool. Kids don’t care about personal space and these kids found a table that had enough seats for their family. There was a place for everyone to sit and they made a simple choice to sit there. It didn’t matter that the seats were spread out, they found what they were looking for.
When mom brought the food over, the children passed the boxes back and forth across and in front of the existing diners. The kids laughed and joked while enjoying their lunch. They felt right at home eating at a big table in a large, loud, fun place. The three adult diners quickly finished their meal and headed off to their next meeting or back to their desk in one of the steel and glass buildings nearby.
Before the family finished their meal, they had taken over the whole table. The parents laughed and joked along with the kids. The parent’s enjoyment sent a clear message to the children to feel comfortable and be happy.
It was such a contrast to observe the way the children saw the world right next to the measured approach employed by the regular working folks.
As I gazed around the dining area, I could see an important choice about how to live my life.
We have a choice between being bold or acting in a measured way
I bet many of the adults in the dining room used to be bold and fearless as children. They used to enter a room and go for what they wanted, not wondering about what others thought or how they would be perceived.
As adults, we have picked up beliefs and behaviors, that little by little, have taken a toll on our ability to move forward in a fearless way. The results are visible when we question ourselves too much, avoid making a decision because of the unknown, or worse yet, miss out on a wonderful experience because we don’t want to make a mistake.
What about you? How