Today my two older children were cleaning their room, so my third child was sad he had no one to play with. I hugged him and told him I would take him out hiking while his brothers cleaned.
He immediately became happy and excited, and we went out to the woods. He stared in amazement at all the colors of the trees changing and ran and smiled like the 7 year old boy he is. He found a nice stick and started playing with it as we walked, using it to brush the leaves off the trail. He found some truly huge leaves the size of my face to take home and show his mom.
As we came to the start of the trail he neatly positioned his stick on the ground and said: "I hope another boy can find the stick someday and have fun also!". I told him " me too son, me too. I hope everyone can find their stick someday".
Sometimes if I let go of all my worries, and stress, and thoughts and anxieties, and simply walk through the woods noticing the beauty of nature, I can see why my 7 year old son gets so excited by simply walking through the woods.
The only way for me to get to that point though isn't to remember what it is like to be a 7 year old. It is to forget what it is like to be a 36 year old. The stick is already there. I just have to pick up all the leaves covering it up these days.