Fearlessness Is For Toddlers

Toddlers are interesting little people. Just when you think you know what makes them tick, they change the rules on you. Toddlers assert their endless energy in effort to keep mom and dad on their toes. I admire toddlers though, for their willingness to dash blindly into the fray. I’m amazed that a toddler can teeter on the arm of a sofa, forgetting that just an hour before his head had crashed on the floor as a direct result of doing exactly that.

A toddler with command of many words and several phrases, will still experiment with his mouth, discovering the many sounds it can make. “Blick black bluck” my son repeats from the back seat of the car. “Blick black bluck” over and over. He feels the sound roll around in his mouth, uncaring of how it makes him look. He doesn’t think about his ego, our opinion, whether he’s too old, or even the meaning of his words. There is no apprehension, fear or embarrassment, only ‘blick black bluck”.

Wouldn’t it be great to know what we know, but also possess the innocent fearlessness of a toddler? We could say what we want, do what we want, and not care what anyone else thinks of us. Hmm. Suddenly I’m thinking of what it looks like to have 2 angry toddlers fighting with each other. Crying, tantrums, each wanting his own way … maybe it wouldn’t be so great after all. Not for adults anyway!

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