Princesses, Rainbows and Butterflies (Living In The Present)

I have the ultimate 4 year old girl living in my house. I love watching Briana blossom each and every day. She enjoys her life. She is a very happy girl. Smart and so full of spirit. I think she has the life a 4 year old should have. A carefree life. A life where everything is sunshine and rainbows. Life will get tougher for her. It does for every kid. It comes with aging. I know it got tougher for me. In time, she will have more responsibilities, more realizations, more questions and more tough issues to face.

The other night, Doug and I were practicing some Mandarin phrases with Bri before she went to bed. She told us that it was too hard for her brain because she was already thinking about things like rainbows and butterflies. I can definitely see that it is hard to learn a new language when you are consumed with things like rainbows and butterflies. And I don't mind at all. She is only 4. She should be consumed with happy things. I don't want her to deal with issues too far beyond her comprehension right now. It will come in time. And until then, I want her to remain consumed with things like rainbows, butterflies, unicorns, teddy bears, princesses, Mickey Mouse and so much more. She will only be 4 once.

It is said that you relive your childhood when a child enters your life. It is so true. I once again believe in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. I believe in wishing on a star and finding gold at the end of a rainbow. Briana has given this gift to me and for that, I cannot thank her enough.

I stumbled across this sight on the window sill the other day...

Sigh. I love Bri's innocence. Her life is filled with images of princes and princesses.

I realized recently that I have been dwelling a bit too much on the "what ifs" or the "what might happens" when it comes to Briana. She turned 4 last month and for some reason, my "worry button" flipped on. I really need to live more in the present and stop fretting so much about the future. I'm not saying I am not preparing myself for the future or that I'm not preparing her for it, but I am not going to overly think about the "what ifs" anymore. What is worrying going get me?

I've glanced at a few blogs in the blog world lately that are consumed with anger - ones that focus only on the negative. Consumed with hate and narrow-mindedness. Lacking any sense of maturity and filled with name-calling. There are people so ticked off about their situations in life. There are people that believe their point of view is the only valid point of view and that differing opinions have no merit. And I know this might be a shocker to some, but it is actually possible for different people to be handed similar situations in life and *surprise* come away with completely different viewpoints from those experiences. No one has the right to say "because "x" happened to you, you must feel like "y" or you are obviously delusional." That type of thinking is absolutely ridiculous.

I think being consumed with the negatives in life is not healthy. So I am choosing to focus more on the positives of life and live more in the now. I am currently blessed with good health, a comfortable lifestyle, a loving family and great friends. I really don't have much to complain about and I am very lucky. I am going to try not to dwell so much on negative things that might or could happen to my little girl in the future. For now, I'm going to let my 4 year old little girl be consumed with rainbows and butterflies. And I think I'm going to try to be a little more consumed with them myself.

You really can learn a lot from a 4 year old.