The Joy of Being a Child

I think one of the sweetest joys of being a child is that you cannot have everything you want. I was talking to Christy the other day, and a story she told prompted me on this particular tangent of thought. She mentioned to me how when she was a kid, her family would only go out to eat once every six months, and even then they would always order water as their drink. She recalled how one time at one of these rare occasions her parents told Christy and her siblings that they were allowed to order whatever they wanted to drink. To Christy, that glass of chocolate milk was the best thing she'd ever tasted.

I think this example is such a reflection of the way that our hearts and our desires work. It's not really the object of the desire itself that brings pleasure. That chocolate milk was probably no different from the chocolate milk she drinks today. But there is something about how constraints in our pursuit of what we desire will actually create greater joy in the long run. A specific example for me as a kid was my intense desire for ice cream every time I heard the jingle of the ice cream truck. There was something magical about that jingle that it had every kid on the block sprinting full on to catch the truck as it was turning the corner. These days I can buy all those cheap ice creams any time I stop to fill up gas. On occasion I do. But the pleasure is never the same. Sure the ice cream tastes pretty good. But there isn't that sense of wonder, of curiosity satisfied, of a pleasure that doesn't come often.

This would usually be the part of the post where I'd explain how I've seen this as a metaphor for something bigger in life, something spiritual even. But actually I haven't made that connection yet. Perhaps I will soon. In the meantime I'll mourn the loss of wonder in the ice cream bar and chocolate milk and perhaps try and recapture it.