Just a couple of weekends ago when all the family was gathered together for Fathers Day, my grandson was so excited about spending time with his uncle Jason that it occupied every ounce of his 40 lb body. He could no more relax or slow down his thinking than an excited puppy could stop wagging its tail. Such pure embracing of enthusiasm and excitement, it would appear to me, is reserved for the very young or only in times of great stress for the rest of us. Looking back I can think of just a few times when I felt completely consumed with such intense feelings. The first time I rode a bike. I was only 6 and training wheels weren't part of the equation. I was directed by my older sisters to ride straight down a gravel hill and when I reach the bottom, turn, so as to miss the large pile of dead tumble weeds at the bottom. I was so excited about riding I couldn't think of anything else. I picked my feet up off the ground and placed them on the pedals for the first time in my life. My sisters held the bike steady until I was ready for launch. I stared straight down the hill which seemed like a mountain at the time. They game me a push and off I went. Straight down the hill. Feeling every rock and bump and hanging on with both hands white knuckle tight! The bottom of the hill came all to soon and I forgot to turn. I flew over the handle bars and landed on my back in the middle of the tumble weeds. It felt like a million tiny needles all being stuck in you at the same time. That was all I rode that day. I had a few other occasions of total submersion into the moment but I don't want to walk you through 50+ years in just one blog so I will skip ahead with just a mention of the moments. The first time I got a hit on the ball in an official baseball game and actually made it to first base without being thrown out. My first date, ironically on bicycles. First day of college. When I asked my wife to marry me. Fortunately she answered quickly with out giving it much thought. My wedding day. The birth of my children X3. The birth of my grandson. In all these occasions, my mind seem to zoom past my, well, my thinking. My mind would race so fast from one thought or feeling to another that I couldn't really keep up with it. I have never jumped from a plane but I would imagine it to be something like that. You can see all the things on the ground but trying to focus on just one thing is impossible. Your eyes are gathering information from hundreds or thousands of different objects and your brain is doing all it can to try to keep up. While still out on the patio, I pulled Brady aside and encouraged him to slow down and try to regain some self control so we could all go in to eat. He tried, oh how he tried but the feeling was just too great. The emotions were too keen. If he didn't let out his excitement, I'm sure he would have exploded. Now that I am much older these moments come far less often. The only time I feel like I am going to explode is when I've had too much coffee. I think maybe it's the intensity of every experience that draws me to work with kids. They not only accept it but they embrace it with their whole being. I'm Dad and I'm just saying be quiet. Maybe when your older.
