For when you just want to watch

Golden rays stream through the windows as I make my as I make my way to the cafeteria to get my mid-morning dose of caffeine. It’s 10:30 and it’s already at 90 degrees outside.

Our office has a lovely walled courtyard between two buildings. The walk to the cafeteria includes a hallway with large glass windows that run its entire length. A playground for a neighboring child-care center is nestled in the far corner. When the days are warm, smiling little faces greet me as they hold tight to a rope and following their teacher into the building to get to the playground.

Photo Credit: Sharon Mollerus

Today is a special treat. A dozen children clad in swimwear play as the teacher sprays water all around. Their smiles are infectious. A coworker passes me in the hallway and says, “I’d like to be out there with them.” I smile and nod but then the idea of wearing swimwear in the courtyard at work is more than I can bear. I don’t entertain the idea any further.

I slow and watch them play. They are all ecstatic.

One little boy, a future salesman I imagine, is in the center of the action. He’s standing near the half-full wheelbarrow splashing water and absorbing a direct hit from the water hose every time it crosses his path. To his left, a redheaded girl in a yellow bathing suit stiffens as the end of the stream hits her legs. Another little guy in blue trunks, white t-shirt, and spiderman sandals runs back and forth the length of the water’s path, jetting in and out of the moving stream.

As my pace eases, several kids gather around the periphery of the action. One is clinging to a blanket with two fingers in his mouth, watching. Yet another is straightening a towel to make a small playground for to his truck. Still another is standing just close enough that her toes receive an occasional splash.

As I watch them play, I am struck by how differently they are enjoying their morning.

My first impression is those in the middle of the action are having the most fun. They have the broadest smiles. They are the most active. They are the wettest. But as I observe more closely, everyone is having a good time.

Life is this way too. There are some who thrive on action. Always going, always working a deal, always deep in a passionate project. They are attention grabbers.

There are others who stay near the action. Occasionally standing out, but not always in the center. Some watch from the side with careful observation but rarely noticed. A few do their own thing, oblivious to the action around them.

Today, I’m able to appreciate the differences. The boy on the towel is not missing the fun in the water, he’s enjoying his truck. And the child just watching is enjoying the spectacle. And the ones in the water, they are loving their morning too. Instead evaluating their differences, expecting them to enjoy their morning the same way, I revel in the diversity.

And for the ones I love, I will take this lesson from the courtyard and watch carefully, they enjoy their lives differently too. I will celebrate their differences, embrace their uniqueness, and enjoy watching from the side.