Celebrate Anything
Dear Little Man,
Good evening. A lot of amazing things are going to happen throughout your life, and it will always be very tempting to look ahead to the next step. Life will give you struggles (like an automated over-the-phone-bill-paying service that misunderstands everything you say), but you will find comfort and motivation in always knowing what is next, what you are working for. While this is an effective motivator and tool, do not forget that some pretty cool stuff is probably going on right now, and you are going to kick yourself later if you missed it.
There are old cliches ("The grass is always greener"), country songs, stories, and even some cheesy movies trying to remind you of this lesson, but don't take it lightly. I have always had a habit of counting my next salary, looking forward to my next level of importance, and planning for what I will do once I have new-found responsibilities. This has bit me in my backside many times. For example:
- I once could not wait to leave a job in landscaping, because I thought being a vacuum salesman would be easier money. Turns out, I wasn't a fan of knocking on doors and interrupting dinners to do in home demonstrations.
- I once thought that a calculus class was a waste of time, because I would never use it, and I just needed to get to my courses that actually matter. Well, the next 5 engineering courses I took used calculus.
- I once had several employees I worked with at a sheet metal box manufacturing facility get laid-off, and I couldn't wait until it was my turn so I could have some time off. Turns out, rent is hard to come by when you don't have a job.
- I once could not wait for the old coach of the St. Louis Rams to leave so we could usher in a new era with a young upstart coach. The Rams went from Superbowl Champs to the worst 15 years in NFL history.
Today I have a pretty good job, in a nice house, the love of my life, and have a healthy little you, with your sister on the way. It is tempting to look ahead at my next promotion, our next house, our next car, or even the next vacation. But now I don't get caught looking ahead as much, because you are doing things every day that force me to stop and simply enjoy right now.
I can't quite explain why you figuring out how to hold a cup under the water faucet causes me to jump up and down and yell with excitement like those kids on Christmas who just found out they are going to Disneyworld. It sure is hard to get caught up in what percentage my end of year bonus will be, or what I will do with all that extra money once that one pesky private student loan is paid off, and then get to the day it is all done and wonder where the time went, because I have you running around and figuring the world out for the first time.
One day you woke up not knowing how to move once you got up on your hands and knees, and by the end of it I was tripping over you because you were crawling everywhere. I stopped myself short of saying, "I wonder when you will walk", and just had to get down and crawl with you to celebrate the milestone, soaking it in and laughing when you laughed from pure the excitement of watching the world blow past you at 0.5 miles per hour. And it was a good thing too, because you only crawled for a few weeks before you were up on 2 legs for good.
I am now nervous that I will see you doing something one day and say to myself, "Wow, how long has he been able to take off his own diaper and walk around naked?", only to realize that I have seen this before when there was that time I stepped in a puddle of pee, but I wasn't really paying attention enough to appreciate your newly learned skill.
I am now unfocused from any one thing, and completely focused on everything. I don't wait to celebrate milestones, because you have taught me that everywhere there is a milestone.
It is a good thing you taught me this lesson, so I could pass it on to you.
Thanks again,
Dad
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