On Children: My Daughter Is My Inspiration

"While we try to teach our children about life, our children teach us what life is all about." ~Angela Schwindt

I see life with new eyes through that of my three-year-old daughter Gianna. Her world is one big happy playground and every experience is filled with laughter and excitement. Although it's such a chore to change her clothes or give her a bath because she thinks it's all fun and games, I can't help but admire her playfulness. Not a care in the world. It's so refreshing to watch her play, absolutely oblivious to life's craziness and what lies ahead.

The more time I spend with Gianna, the more I realize how petty my worries are. Before she was born, I worried about a lot of things. Money, health, work, relationships. The ones that plagued me the most were my fears and insecurities. I still struggle with them but raising a child has helped me put things in perspective. Life is hard and it may even seem unfair at times, but at the end of the day, all my worries dissolve just by the sight of my daughter. No matter how her day was, she always has a smile on her face and has the energy and the heart to run toward me with open arms when I come home from work. How can I allow my trivial insecurities to ruin such happiness?

As we get older, we tend to forget the value and beauty of life. We take our blessings for granted as we get caught up in the chaos of the daily grind. We don't intentionally do this, but most of the time, our responsibilities and priorities take us away from what was once the center of our lives before we grew up: living for the moment. And that is what Gianna and our children do. They live in the moment, soaking in their experiences with great tenacity. Because they are not yet poisoned by obligations, they have the hearts to live life to the fullest. That is exactly what grown-ups need to do. Stop for a moment, breathe in the moment, and live life to the fullest in that very moment. We forget that the glass in not only half-empty, but half-full as well, and half-full is all we need to appreciate where we are now, just as our kids do.