The Red Balloon of Happiness
Just when you think you know it all, some 17-month old child
comes along and teaches you another valuable life lesson.
Little Lady lost her favorite ball. There are few things that
bring this 17-month-old more joy than playing with her favorite
ball. And, of course, we want our daughter to have all the
happiness she can get.
So we headed out to the store to replace the missing ball.
Little Lady enjoyed the outing, since there were so many
exciting things to pull off shelves. And when we reached the
ball aisle, she nearly jumped for joy. (OK, more like raced to
the bin and started covering the floor with her joy, one bounce
at a time.)
As we left the aisle, Little Lady was happy and smiling. She
held her replacement ball in her hands as we walked up to the
cash. While waiting to pay, Little Lady caught sight of a red
balloon that had obviously been used for some promotion, but was
now wandering aimlessly around the floor like a lost puppy.
If you think a ball can bring happiness, wait 'til you see the
sparkle in the eye of a toddler who has just found her very own
red balloon. Pure joy! Of course, she adopted the balloon
immediately and clung to it all the way back to the car. Did she
want to hold the ball? No way. She had a balloon!
I couldn't help but marvel at how she valued the free, fragile
balloon more than the sturdy ball I for which had just paid good
money. Is there a lesson we can learn for self-actualization?
Here are the possible lessons that immediately occurred to me:
1. Why bother having a thick skin, if your daughter prefers thin
skins? 2. If you drift aimlessly long enough, you might get
adopted. 3. Money can't buy the most important things in life
(happiness, joy, smiles, balloons, etc.) 4. Your child can see
value where you cannot, so listen to what she says.
I figure at least two of these are valuable lessons that can add
happiness to a person's life. Little Lady teaches me
self-actualization lessons daily now, and I am learning to
listen with head and heart.
How often do we value the wrong things? The things that cost the
most? How hard to we work to earn all that extra income to buy
things we simply do not need. Anyone reading this probably has
more than she will ever need, and yet don't we all want more
anyway?
Suppose we chose to have less of the things money can buy, and
instead chose to have more time? More time to spend with our
family? More time to spend with ourselves? More time to just be?
What if we are giving up the red balloon chasing after the ball?
My wife and I made a big decision a few months ago. We gave up
the condo in the city for a big ol' house in the country. Our
red balloon was space to raise a family in a much less noisy and
stressed-out environment. The ball we gave up was the "glamour"
of city living and a fancy condo.
Assuming we can make a living from my book, my ezine, my web
site and whatever other work-from-home projects I take on, we
get to keep the red balloon.
I invite you to look carefully at your life. Ask what truly
brings you meaning. Then ask yourself if you could have more of
that if you spent less time and effort on activities that don't
bring you meaning but just fill your time.
Enjoy your red balloon.