Resilience

–noun: the ability to recover readily from illness, depression, adversity, or the like; buoyancy

Today was my official first day of work since leaving my managerial position at the hotel. I subbed for the elementary school P.E. teacher and it was a blast! I know you wouldn't think it would be, but I had a lot of fun. My favorite grade was kindergarten; they were the sweetest, not to mention the most polite and respectful. Most of the second graders I had today were already acting the way kids did when I was in middle school; eyeing me suspiciously and testing me to see just what they could get away with; whereas the kindergarteners were telling me I was pretty, eagerly demonstrating their skills with jump-ropes, hoola-hoops, etc...

Some teachers have told me that they prefer the older grades over kindergarten because kindergarteners are still so much like babies. I think that's actually the reason why I prefer them. So what if they ask me to tie their shoes or button their pants, or if they cry because someone took their toy away? They're also the ones who take the most initiative and go out of their way to please whoever's in charge. Several little girls ran up and gave me hugs throughout the class period; for no reason in particular other than that they just felt like giving me a hug. It brings tears to my eyes thinking about it now. Where does that go? When do we lose that ability to love unconditionally and without inhibition? By the time they reach second grade, most of the sweetness will be gone.

I found myself wishing we could all be more like kindergarteners. Not to say that we all need to act like children; I'm not promoting an attitude of immaturity or irresponsibility by any means. But if somehow we could reclaim that spirit of innocence which the world so eagerly takes away from us. If we could all hug when we're happy and cry when we're not and most importantly, if we could recover from disappointing events with the same resilience that they do...

We often pray for childlike faith. I'm going to pray for childlike resilience. :-)

Goodnight. ♥