So I am a sucker for a good inspirational book, movie, radio show… If it lifts you up, count me in!  Dax gave me satellite radio for Christmas, and I am loving it!  I have been listening to tid bits of Oprah radio here and there.  I used to be a die hard Oprah watcher, but have not watched it much in the last couple of years, but I LOVE her radio channel. 

I was listening the other day, and one of the guests asked her what the one thing that she missed from being age five.  She didn’t answer, and just asked him the same question back.  He answered that the main thing he missed is not being cynical, and not expecting to be jaded all of the time.  It’s a simple thought, but what could we all achieve if we were not cynical and didn’t expect everything to go wrong.

I told Dax about this, and he told me about a conference that he went to for work.  The speaker was talking about a lot of the same things.  He said that if you walked into a classroom of 5 year olds, and asked them who could draw, every single one of them would raise their hand.  But, if you walk into a room of adults, and asked them who could draw, nobody would raise their hand.  Okay, simple example again, but oh so true. 

How much can we learn from the sweet little souls that bless all of our lives?  I watch my sweet little Navie, and I hear her talk about what she wants to do, and what she’s going to do.  When and how does the cynicism enter their lives?  At what point do we become afraid of failure?  What would I do if I wasn’t afraid of failure?  How much negativity do we pass on to our kids?

When I was maybe 3ish, (yes this is a flashback, and one of my oldest memories) I was driving down the road with my dad, probably standing up next to him while he drove, cuz that’s how we rolled back then.  We drove past a pasture of sheep, and I turned to my dad and said, “ I am going to go and catch me one of those sheep.”  So what did my dad do, he turned the truck around, and he lifted me over the fence.  He told me that I might be able to catch one if I ran fast enough.  Well I ran, and ran, and ran, but much to no one’s surprise, I didn’t catch a sheep.  I turned back to my dad and told him that they sheep were too fast this time, and that I’ll catch one next time.

First of all, I have to give my dad credit for actually turning the truck around and letting me try even though he knew that I couldn’t catch one.  Would I actually turn the car around and let Navie try if she asked me?  I hope so, but I’m not sure…   Although, if you know my dad, you wouldn’t be surprised by this.  He is our number one cheerleader, and was one of my best self confidence builders as a kid.  He taught me to believe in myself.

After Dax reads this, I know he will ask me if there is something that I wish that I could do that I am not.  So no, there is not some big dream that I wish I had the guts to do.  But, I wrote this as an everyday reminder to get rid of the cynicism, and any negative thoughts or expectations that I have about things or even people…  Or, this might just be a reminder to “turn the car around and let my kids try” next time they ask.