I hereby officially TENDER MY RESIGNATION as an adult.
I have decided I would like to accept the responsibilities of a 6 year old
again. I want to go to McDonald’s and think that it’s a four star
restaurant. I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle and make ripples
with rocks. I want to think M&Ms are better than money, because you can eat
them. I want to play kickball during recess and paint with watercolors in
art. I want to lie under a big Oak tree and run a lemonade stand with my
friends on a hot summers’ day.
I want to return to a time when life was simple. When all you knew were
colors, addition tables and simple nursery rhymes, but that didn’t bother
you, because you didn’t know what you didn’t know and you didn’t care.
When all you knew was to be happy because you didn’t know all the things
that should make you worried and upset. I want to think that the world is
fair. That everyone in it is honest and good. I want to believe that
anything is possible.
Somewhere in my youth . . . I matured and I learned too much. I learned of
nuclear weapons
war
prejudice
starvation
abused children
lies
recessions
unhappy marriages
suffering
illness
pain and death
I learned of a world where men left their families to go and fight for our
country, and returned only to end up living on the streets… begging for
their next meal. I learned of a world where children knew how to kill… and
did!
What happened to the time when we thought that everyone would live forever,
because we didn’t grasp the concept of death? When we thought the worst
thing in the world was if someone took the jump rope from you or picked you
last for kickball?
I want to be oblivious to the complexity of life and be overly excited by
little things once again. I want to return to the days when reading was fun
and music was clean. When television was used to report the news or for
family entertainment and not to promote sex, violence and deceit.
I remember being naive and thinking that everyone was happy because I was. I
would walk on the beach and only think of the sand between my toes and the
prettiest seashell I could find. I would spend my afternoons climbing trees
and riding my bike. I didn’t worry about time, bills or where I was going to
find the money to fix my car. I used to wonder what I was going to do or be
when I grew up, not worry about what I’ll do if this doesn’t work out.
I want to live simple again. I don’t want my day to consist of
computer crashes
mountains of paperwork
depressing news
how to survive more days in the month than money in the bank
doctor bills
gossip
illness
loss of loved ones.
I want to believe in the power of
smiles
hugs
a kind word
truth
justice
peace
dreams
imagination
mankind
making angels in the snow.
I want to be 6 again.
[Submitted by Becky Germany
Fiction Editor, Barbour Books]
~~
Dr Bob Griffin
“Jesus knows me, this I love”