Spent the morning with my boys at Frontierland park.
My oldest can now swing by himself which is great. The youngest sat on my lap and we all enjoyed ourselves; it may be that I enjoyed myself the most.
Being in this park early in the morning before anyone else arrives and swinging is a magical experience. The morning air is fresh and cool, there is dew on the grass and the wind rustles gently through the pine trees. As I swing I can catch for only a moment a feeling of pure exhilaration that I often felt as a boy. It is just a flicker but if I allow myself to be present, in the moment and to stop my brain from thinking about all other things then these flickers increase. There is a joy to being a kid that disappears as we age and I find it sad that many adults my age have completely forgotten this feeling which they’ll never feel again.
When was the last time most adults felt and appreciated the sun’s warmth on their face, heard the buzz of the bees, appreciated the smell of freshly cut grass?
As we were swinging my boy told me to close my eyes which I did and the sensation gave us both butterflies in our stomach. It is moments like these that are the purest and most wonderful experiences in life. They cannot be bought and in struggling to find them they are never found. They only appear in truly being present in the moment, to immerse oneself in the environment; it is then that true joy beings to fill the soul and a smile is impossible to restrain. These moments are common, but hidden behind a veil that is only parted when we are present in the moment and realize how wonderful this gift of life truly is.
