In my travels, I have met many people – big and small. I have to admit, it’s the smaller ones that are often wiser. My nieces and nephews teach me the most in life, more than anyone ever has… and while I’m travelling I miss them a lot. Children have a natural talent at being completely themselves, which is something that adults can learn a lot from.
The last few days, I have spent time with some French friends in the countryside and I have absolutely fallen in love with their children. They have taught me more than how to speak French… they have taught me the beauty of honesty, kindness and letting go. I leave them today, and it’s difficult once again.
Every time I leave someone or a place, I take a moment to cry. Not always out of sadness, but more as a tribute to the ending of wonderful memories that I have made and beautiful people that I’ve gotten to know more. It’s part of the process, and there have been a lot of tears over the years. This is something that I have learned from children as well.
Children cannot help but express their emotions. There is no ego, no attempt to curate their image… just pure being. They don’t believe what they see either, they believe what they imagine to be true. There is more wisdom in this than we adults will admit. I don’t know when it happens, but somewhere along the way as adults we start trying to be realistic. We limit ourselves by what others think is possible, and by this we make ourselves trapped in a situation which we feel we can’t get out of. It’s almost as if living life has become a way of returning back to ourselves again.
I used to think that children needed us adults to teach them things, and so spending time with them is a kind of noble obligation or role that we need to fulfil. But I realise now that I was completely wrong. I also need children in my life… to teach me about myself, and about what it means to be unafraid of being true to who I am. And when I think I have mastered this, children are the best reminders to continue being sincere with myself.
I am incredibly grateful to these two little souls that have now become part of my life. I love listening to them, even though I can often only understand part of what they say. But I try to remain sincere… when I don’t understand, they repeat themselves slowly to me. They explain words that I don’t know, even if I have asked them the same question before. This has improved my French a lot over the short time I’ve been here… but also, observing them has taught me what it means to have honesty within myself. And that this is more important than confidence, good performance or even success. They’ve taught me that it’s safe to drop the ego and just say what you want to say, even if it doesn’t appear to be relevant or make sense.
Children are not burdens or little people filled with needs, in fact they give a lot more than we realise. It’s always a good idea to make time to listen to children, you will learn more than you think… hopefully one day I can have children of my own and learn from them too.
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