Free as a Bird
Remember as a kid when an adult would tell you to enjoy life now because plenty of responsibility would be on your shoulders in the future?
In those days, few of us youngsters could fathom the upcoming burden of a job, mortgages, taxes, maintaining a vehicle, marriage, relationships, health care, or raising kids. Jeez, I thought the adults were talking about high school or maybe college being tough, not life itself.
Now as baby boomers in our 50s and 60s, we look back to those innocent days of the 1950’s almost with envy. Back then, life almost was like Leave it to Beaver or Ozzie & Harriet. We had one black and white television, five channels, one car, and Mom was always home to greet you with cookies and milk when returning from school. The call to the dinner table was a chorus of “Dad’s home” from us kids.
At times, I’m sure we all long for those carefree days. Catching lightning bugs, playing tag or hide and seek, walking barefoot through a meadow, climbing a tree, playing kick ball or dodgeball, laying in the grass looking at the clouds or night time stars.
As you progressed to being a teenager, new priorities emerged. Your first date, your first kiss. Your worries about hair, clothes, even pimples. At the time, it was so important. Tomorrow was always the biggest day of your life.
Now we look back and smile. “That was nothing”, we think. But, as full grown adults we still do get caught in the same frame of mind where we “sweat the little things”.
Maybe we should take a clue from the birds. They take care of getting food, shelter, and security. And they cheerily sing all day long as they accomplish those tasks.
- Mountain Man