-REFLECTIONS ON A TUESDAY MORNING-

A hectic tuesday morning as always. Several errands to run and little time to do them. Running from here to there as if God himself had warned me that the world would end by noon and my acceptance to heaven depended on the number of things accomplished during that day. I walk fast to "who knows where" and think to myself -"I seldom take the time to actually see the world that surrounds me", so I decided to do so today. After all, I am part of this busy city life. And as I walk through the sidewalk of one of the city's main artery, I pass a picturesque coffee shop that has a couple of tables in the middle of the busy sidewalk, and neighbours a small plaza. A blonde woman was sitting in the sun, sipping a hot cup of coffee as she read a thick book. Just a few steps away, a cute little blonde girl played on the grass under the ocasional supervision of that blonde woman, who seemed to be her mother. The little girl knelt down on the grass. She wore a white dress, black shoes and a red coat. She played with several broken branches that were on the ground and some yellow leaves, and nothing else in the world seemed to matter to her. Her world was there and then. She took those yellow leaves with her small white hands and threw them up in the air and watched as they fell on her bright hair with a great big smile on her tiny face. For a minute there I was simply amused. Her concentration was absolute, and her blue eyes seemed to reflect the joy that only a child can feel, the kind of joy we lose as we grow old.

Traffic was awful, the air was, and always is, heavily polluted, cars honking their way through the crowded streets, and thousands of pedestrians ran from side to side, to and fro. But the little girl was living in a parallel world. Somewhere between those dry leaves and her generous imagination. Her mother raised her head from the book every few minutes or so, to check up on her, and carried on reading her novel with amusement. -How could I possibly live life in such amusement? - I thought to myself. Is it possible for a man of my age to recover the lost joy and love for life? -I doubt it - said the sceptic voice inside my head. You are far too busy with more "important" matters. -Impontant? Isn't that little girl's joy important? Could it be that with the passing of the years we change our priorities so drasticly and don't consider our youth's happiness important anymore? Has our sense of narcissism become so great that nothing else could be as important than what we chose to label as "important"? What could possibly be more important than enjoying the little life that I have left? Could there be anything more more urgent than the need to have great days to look back to and smile? To live my "here and now"?
I looked at the tip of my shoes for a moment, a bit confused I admit, as if trying to come up with some sort of rational conclusion. After all, I was debating the importance of life itself! I raise my head, look at the young girl once again and realise just how complicated I have made such a simple thing. Watching a little child play had made me question my principles, priorities and even my love for life! Just then it hits me that, in order to live a long, pleasant and joyful life, one must act more and think less!. Yes! That's it! That's the answer to my question! I must begin to live my life as children do, carelessly, no worries on my mind, just live the moment as it comes! I smile and realise that I don't even know how long I have been standing there. And then reality strikes me from out of the blue, the little girl with the white dress had accidently taught me a very valuable lesson today, and I walked away with a happy heart and a silly grin on my face, feeling like a child again.