A Matter of Perspective

A man is getting old when he walks around a puddle instead of through it. ~R. C. Ferguson

This quote seemed really appropriate with all the thawing and puddles showing up around here the past few days.

I have been thinking about this quote since Monday when I read it. That’s why on Tuesday I decided to walk straight through a big puddle.

It might not have been the smartest thing to do because there was a lot of ice under the water and it was quite a bit deeper than I had anticipated, but I did it anyway. I was at the point of no return by the time I realized it was getting deeper and icier. At that point it made more sense to go forward.

I went through that puddle because I decided that it was the fastest way between point A and B.

I went through that puddle because I don’t want to be “old.”

I remember when my oldest grandchild was about two years old. The adults told him to stay out of a mud puddle.

Of course, the first place he went was to the mud puddle and jumped right into the middle of it!

He jumped until he was filthy from head-to-toe!

Once he started jumping, there didn’t seem to be much sense in making him stop. He was at the pinnacle of pure joy! His giggles were priceless.

There was no way he was walking around that puddle or any puddle in the near or distant future.

I decided that I was going to at least walk through the puddle. (I’m not much of a jumper! Besides, you do not want to see all of this body jiggling after a jump!)

Age is just a number, in my opinion. But our feelings about our age and how we are “supposed” to act are what actually makes us old.

I will probably be a child—at least in some ways—forever!