It Used to be The Little Things

Remember the Scholastic book fair? It was like a second Christmas when we were kids. Shopping for overpriced children's books by an exploitive company made us jump with excitement. Not that purchasing books is a bad thing, on the contrary, encouraging kids to read is a noble act. But paying twenty dollars for a book that normally costs five may be considered taking advantage of stressed our parents. It's even worse because Scholastic prepped us with those fancy flyers full of wondrous books that we had to have. As a parent, I now realize the position that my own parents were in back in the early 90s. I still harbor much of the love for books that I had as a child. Much to the chagrin of my wife. I remember a Seinfeld bit about keeping read books as trophies. Until recently I did that very thing until my wife threatened to burn them for heat. Needless to say I ridded myself of many of my tomes, only keeping the essentials. Returning to our primary topic, as adults, we have lost that love of the little things. Birthday parties used to have us hyped up in anticipation for weeks. Field trips were like Heaven. Weekends were pure bliss. I still have the same feelings regarding weekends but not to the extent I had as a child. Adults unfortunately lose their innocence and anticipation. We no longer look forward to birthdays with anticipation. At least our own. I do look forward to my children's birthdays, especially since their in the same general time period, but my birthday comes and go with some facebook well wishes and twenty dollars from my parents. Christmas time is also a mixed bag of emotions. I truly enjoy watching my kids open their gifts from Santa but sometimes stress over picking out the gifts or spending too much on that Barbie Dream House. I really have started to enjoy giving gifts instead of receiving them. As a child, the world is full of wonder. We don't truly understand everything that goes on around us. As an adult, much of the world has been opened up to us. We no longer stare in awe at the clouds nor indulge in the act of writing Santa Claus. We have become jaded and depressed. Most adults suffer from depression I firmly believe. And it has to do with our loss of wonder and the awe at the little things. So what can we do about it? There really isn't a simple answer. If you have kids it can be a bit easier as parents can live vicariously through our mini selves. What if one doesn't have any offspring? I'm not a doctor or researcher of any kind but I can provide my opinion. We can stop and smell the roses. We can take a break from social media and work and just take a walk in the woods. Hiking is a great way to disconnect. Every adult should take a trek through the woods at least a couple times a month. It works wonders. We should also always have something to look forward to. It provides a reason to move forward. Sometimes it's not easy, especially if you're not comfortable in your financial situation. But you can always find something. We can never return to our youth, much as we try. Until Elon Musk comes up with a way to time travel, we are all unfortunately stuck in the current time period. But we can reconnect with our youth, even if you're over the age of 70. Age is just a mindset. Look at Mick Jager. He's basically old enough to be a great great grandfather but still gives it his all on stage, most of the time better than artists more than half his age. Enjoy your life, don't fret about the small stuff, and realize that worrying does nothing to improve your situation. Sometimes all you need is a reminder that we have so much to live for.