Being Fully Alive

 

vol:#13

I have a confession to make. I am an avid people watcher.  I always have been, I am currently and I probably always will be. My earliest memories stretching back through time and space, are of me watching people. For me watching people was a survival mechanism. I was in Gan 3 (Nursery school) in Israel and I didn't speak a word of Hebrew.   The Gannent  (Nursery teacher) would do morning calisthenics with the children, and I had no idea what she was saying. Only after did I see all the other children jump up and down would I understand through some deep personal reflections, that I too was supposed to jump up and down.  By then she had moved on to the next instruction.  Causing me t to feel lost, unbalanced, and constantly feeling the need to play catch up. To this day I have trouble following instructions, especially from aerobic instructors.  I  need the instructor to call my name giving me one instruction at a time....very s-l-o-w-llllllllll-y, otherwise I tend to get lost. Now I know why.

Once I had started to understand and feel at home in Gan 3 it was time to move on to Gan 4. A different gannent, a different set of instructions, and different children. Once again I was forced to rely on the old standby of "People watching"  to get by.  The summer I turned 5 we moved back to Canada and so when I actually started kindergarten and not gan I was once again forced to watch the show of my life instead of being an active participant in it.  These children spoke no Hebrew. and I who was a seasoned Hebrew calisthenics person had no idea what it meant to run around in circles, hopping on one foot.

In Grade 1 I again changed schools. Instructions, children, and teachers were again different, this time with an added twist. Because I spoke Hebrew, they thought I was some sort of genius and put me in the class where 6-year-olds were solving algebraic aquatic equations. These children knew how to find X before I had properly even identified the letter. And as much as I have tried to emulate their behavior- some 40-odd years later I am still kind of l vague on the whole X thing.

I think "HUH" is an accurate description of my whole early childhood. followed by me nodding my head slowly as if I understood.

And even though today I can somewhat effectively communicate in both Hebrew and English (I said somewhat yes? Ask my Husband how well I communicate really :)) I still remain an avid observer of humanity.

and as an experienced people watcher, I can tell you the most fascinating group of people to watch are children. Children are fully alive, and fully present and they live totally and completely in the moment.

Have you ever noticed that one minute children can cry hysterically as if their world is ending completely and totally? and in the next moment, they can go off laughing and happy as can be?  That is because they are fully and completely engaged in process of being alive.  If they cry as if their world is ending it is because at that moment their world is ending.  The next moment they are able to go off happy as can be because they received the reassurance that their world is not going to end. and they have continued the process of being alive. They are not living in the past. They are not living in the future, they are alive and committed to the present. as such, children are the most creative, most vibrant, and most energetic, the most in touch with their emotions, and therefore the most alive.

and while I wouldn't want to go back to that world of being lost and unable to understand and be understood I do wish sometimes that I could re-experience moments of being fully alive. And I think that is the purpose of Purim. Purim gives us the ability to fully and completely be absorbed in the moment.

Happy Purim Everyone, and Enjoy and Live in the Moment!!

 
As always Qwerki Quotes & Inspirational Thoughts come from my life and my observations of  my adventures.

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