Yesterday, I saw a beautiful sight. It wasn't anything out of this world or extraordinary.
It was of a little girl . Probably 8 or 9 who had obviously been sent on an errand. I was on my way back from work and had just entered into my sister's estate. She had sent me to help her pick up a few things from the market. So here I was with my heavy bag (I felt someone played a prank on me and loaded it with rocks :( !!), my lunch bag (which I regretted carrying), my bag of personal things from my office (we were moving office, so I had to take home my personal effects) and the bag of goodies for my sister. Did I mention that I had to go into the market and walk back? No, I guess I didn't. So apparently, I wasn't in the best frame of mind. I might have even grumbled a bit about carrying so many bags at once.
Anyway, I was trudging along and dreaming of how I'd get home and drop it all and play with my nephew when I saw this little girl. She was in her own world and she obviously called the shots there. I first noticed her when she jumped. I thought she was trying to catch something or even get a glimpse at something when I realized she was skipping. It got me smiling. I wondered what was making her excited and immediately thought she had received a gift of something she liked and the memory was making her skip with joy. It took me down memory lane. I had pleasant thoughts of my childhood with brief flashes of really good times.
Then I noticed she was dancing. It looked more like a cultural kind of dance, but she danced to a rhythm. A rhythm that only she could hear.
But I must confess I was held spell bound. She danced in sync to the beat of her heart and to the sound of her ears. It was obvious she was happy. No, ecstatic. I am not sure that will explain how she danced. I was tempted to bring out my tablet to capture the moment for posterity. (But I knew that no one would have understood that it was the beauty of it all I was trying to capture. With the way things are in Nigeria, I didn't want anyone stopping me and tagging me a pedophile or whatever crazy name would have fit the bill. I know if I were her mother I wouldn't appreciate a stranger taking my child's photo or recording a video for that matter. I just captured the memory and said I'd share with my blog family.)
My point is this. She may not have had a new toy or dress. She may not even have had lunch. She may have just been grateful to be alive. Excited that she could move her own 2 feet and dance to the music of her heart that she alone could hear. She may have been in trouble for all we know, but she choose to be cheerful. That was a really humbling experience for me and it put a huge grin on my face.
At that moment, I was envious of her. She could dance on the streets and I was too self conscious to do so. She could be excited even if she didn't know what was ahead of her. The fear of the unknown has kept me (and I 'm sure most of us) bound not in captivity but in a certain kind of unease that comes with maturity. We tend to worry about everything even when we know there is not a thing we can do about it!
She was living life moment by moment and that moment was one of unadulterated joy.
Its so easy to quip "when life throws you lemons, make a lemonade" but the reality of it is that its sometimes a bit of an effort to squeeze out the lime and make the lemonade!!!. But the truth is we can choose to be cheerful about certain situations we find ourselves in or we can choose to grumble our way out of it. But no matter what, we will still go through that situation and we will still come out of it. So why not adopt the attitude of winners and have an awesome learning experience while at it?
Try this instead with the lemons->
I promise we will drink it together and be happy!!! lol!
I want to leave you with this words...
“You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt,
Sing like there's nobody listening,
And live like it's heaven on earth.”
...and this song by Natasha Bedingfield (Yeah, its still my best song!)
P.S...._ Here's me dancing like no one's watching *wink*
Enjoy!!!
