How long has it been since you truly experienced “Wonder” in your life?
It’s one of the things I love about children, they are full of wonder. The dictionary describes wonder as: “A feeling of amazement and admiration caused by something beautiful, remarkable or unfamiliar.”
To live life without “wonder” is to live a life that is less than we were designed to live. I am a great believer that in order to live a life that still has wonder in it we need to be deliberate about it.
I have learnt that to live a life with wonder in it I need to make some choices and put myself in the position where I can have wonder as part of my life. As I watch my grandchildren live a life of wonder, the way they are excited and fascinated so easily by the smallest things, I have learnt to recapture the wonder in my life.
Children live in this space naturally because they are still having so many new and first experiences. As adults we tend to lose this very important component to live a life worth living. If we aren’t careful we will lose our ability to live with fascination, wonderment and awe.
Instead of being so busy with all that needs to be done, I am learning again how to live IN the moment and enjoy the small, big and in-between things. Some of my grandchildren love nature and see so much wonder in things like baby birds found in the nest and will stay and watch the mother bird return with food for the babies with a beautiful fascination in the whole process.
They delight in bringing things like grubs, snails, flowers, rocks, shells, seaweed, dead mice (yuck), chicken eggs, and all sorts of things for me to enjoy like they do. I can either dismiss these opportunities to be full of wonder as they are, or I can chose to see the beautiful, remarkable beauty in each one with them (even the dead mice).
My older grandchildren who are 16 & 18 now, also show me how to be filled with wonder.
The 16 year old is a beautiful singer and to listen to her sing, watch her perform so stunningly in concerts and dramas this last year is also to see the wonder in her life because she loves it so much.
The 18 year old is off to university this year, and to listen to her talk about her future of studying law, travelling each day to Sydney for her studies, and how she is looking forward to her new adventure is to see the wonder and amazement in her journey.
So, I have made a decision of always making sure there are new adventures for Grandma just like they are for my grandchildren. I think to keep the “wonder” in my life is to:
- Be IN the moment fully
- Try new things
- Create adventures
- Never stop learning
- Look at life through the eyes of children and young people.
- See the “Wonder ” in creation all around me because it is so real and life giving just like the Creator.
Be blessed friends and live IN WONDER!!!
Susanna.
