Last night as I was reading a Peppa Pig book to my two and a half year-old daughter, she turned around and said something profound. My head was back at college, planning lessons, checking schedules etc and so I was reading to her like it was something I had to get done in order to get on with something else. What she said sucked my attention right back to where it should have been, and the wisdom in her words smacked me across the face like it was the disapproving hand of Socrates himself.
Philosophers, religious leaders and, more recently, cognitive and behavioural psychologists have been trying to sort out what exactly makes life worthwhile. The data is out – it’s cut and dried, and Abbey articulated it better than ever.
“Daddy, please be happy.”
She could feel that I wasn’t there with her – that I was lost in less important things. What she was saying without the means of articulating it was: “Daddy, be present with me, enjoy this moment like I am.”
And there we have it. The secret to life. As we enter a new and busy year, let’s stop and take a breath. We are all very, very lucky.
Wow, why is it so hard to keep life simple? No wonder children hold the answers. Thanks Andrew.
Hi Andrew. This a wonderful and profound message and yet it’s so simple. I love the way innocence seems to have X-ray vision straight into the heart of everything. Thanks for sharing such a pivotal moment. In kindness, Matt