simple

you know when you are a young child, and life to you then seems to be bursting with new opportunities, new learning obstacles, and new challenges each day as you grow. you are so excited to "grow up." to go to school like the other kids...to stay at sleepovers...to get an extended curfew...to get to go to prom. all of these things we had to look forward to as we grew up. all things that seemed back then that if they didn't happen, it was the worst thing that could ever happen. that life was so tough when we didn't get our way.
life seemed so simple back then. where the every day worries that went through our minds were as simple as what we were going to have for lunch that day...or what friends we were going to get to play with...or what we were going to do on a rainy day.

i wish somedays that i could be my kid self again...that i could go back to those times and savor the times that i had...and cherish each moment i got to experience. i wish i could learn to have a kid-like heart again. i wish i could be as trusting as kids are. i wish i could run in the rain because it was fun...and not worry if my hair was going to get messed up, or that i didn't want to ruin my work clothes for the rest of the day. i wish the most stressful thing i would experience would be whether my friend could come over to play or not.

the simplest things in life go unnoticed. the smell of grass on a summer day, the feeling of the sun shining on your face, the breeze blowing through your hair. instead we focus and worry about all the big things going on...work, money, time, friends, weather...and stress out about little things that happen.

i need to learn to be me...simple me. to not be who people want me to be...but to be so much of myself that my personality shines through. that my kid-like heart will help make me smile even when things get tough. that i'll be able to dance in the rain and laugh instead of getting upset that i ruined my hair. i hope i can get back to the simpler things...and just enjoy being me. and the simple life that God has planned out for me.