Oh to have the energy of the youth

I have written before about being an older dad and the joys of seeing the world through the eyes of an eight year old. I love having talks with my daughter and letting her share her imagination and point of view. Her innocence is uplifting. I envy her naïvety. However, today has nothing to do with her imagination or her dreams of the world. It is her energy – boy does she have a lot of it.

In my 50 years, I have often heard, and even at times muttered it myself, that people wish they could have some of their energy while pointing to a group of youngsters. They run around all day long and could go deep into the night if allowed. Many times I wonder if my daughter knows anything about being tired. According to her, she never gets tired.

I am finding that as an adult I, and from what I can tell those adults I hang with, wish not to be young but to have the feeling of youth. We want to be more energetic. We want to run. Hell – there are days I just want to stay up long enough to see Leno, no wait…… well whoever took over for Carson. Once again, I learned, through an eight year-old, that this is possible. It is not about the energy; it is about the attitude.

I came home the other day tired. We just started back at work after the Christmas break. No matter how rested you are when you go back, the first day seems like it will never end and it just saps you. My day did just that. I actually had a great day at work, but it just took a lot of energy. I longed to be back on vacation and taking walks in the snow. By the time I came home, I was ready to be a 50 year-old. I wanted to have dinner, sit in my chair, watch a little TV, and nod off. Life knows better.

After dinner, I had to sit down with my little one to practice piano. Sitting down to practice piano with a child can be related to … well I am not sure. You never know what you are going to get. If she is tired, there will be a lot of eye rolling and banging on keys with the “I can’t do it.” If she had a new song that she likes, there will be focus and quality attempts at the work. However, even this can become frustrating for her if she makes the same mistake over and over. The good days can be a lot of fun. The music just seems to happen, and I can enjoy rocking in my chair listening to the notes just float out about the room. Then there was the night in question, it was none of those.

My pianist had ENERGY!!! This little musician had joy and humor abound. Everything was funny. I had to make a decision. I could force her to sit and play or I could let things roll. I chose to let things roll. I wish I could say that my decision was based on making my daughter happy, but it was that I chose the thing that took less energy. I chose right.

She made mistakes, but would start again with a little giggle at her mistake. She started adding notes and making chords that weren’t in the music. She actually added to what was on the paper. She danced her fingers along the keys happily tapping out scales – scales!!! She hates them. Then it happened.

Kia, our four-legged, furry cat, decided to partake and jumped up on the keyboard. She walked all the way from the lower register to the highest key. Giggles could not be stopped now. The giggles were no longer a single voice. How could I not be laughing with Beethoven Jr.?

The lesson lasted longer than normal, but no one seemed to care. We ended it and turned off the keyboard. As we got up from the lesson, it hit me. I was no longer tired. I had some energy. I felt like I could run into the night. My daughter had given me some of her energy, and yet did not seem to be any worse for wear. Adults often want the energy of the youth, but cannot figure out how to get it. I tripped upon it. All I had to do was choose to let it happen.

Now I can see the world through her eyes and gain some of her energy. Being a dad is great.

Just for the record. The energy she provided does seem to run low quicker in an adult than a child. While she provided me with some energy during our time together. I still didn’t make it to see who is on after the news.

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