Every family has one: that person who keeps everyone else on their toes. It’s rarely the oldest child. More often it’s a middle or youngest, someone who is unapologetically themselves.
In my family, we have two.
The first is my daughter, Mara. At 25, she’s not only brilliant (she’s studying to be a pharmacist!) but also has the gift of keeping the whole family in stitches almost every day. The second is my three-year-old granddaughter, Sylvie, who is silly, strong-willed (just try to do her hair!), and lives every moment to the fullest.
Sylvie just being Sylvie
Both of them remind me of something important. It’s easy to get bogged down in the minutiae of everyday life. But if we don’t make time to be silly and laugh, and if we don’t have the courage to be who we really are, we waste one of the greatest gifts we’ve ever been given: this life.
I’m sure you have someone like this in your life too. Maybe it’s the one you wonder will ever be serious. Maybe it’s the one who is always fighting to do things their own way. Or maybe it’s the one who simply lives every moment to the absolute fullest.
It’s tempting to see those people as the exhausting ones, the ones who test our patience and throw off our plans. But I’ve come to believe they are doing something for the rest of us. They give us permission. When Mara makes the whole table laugh, she reminds us that joy is allowed, even on an ordinary Tuesday. When Sylvie refuses to sit still for a ponytail, she shows us what it looks like to know exactly who you are, and to not apologize for it.
We went on vacation and Mara left us a present!
Most of us learn to tone ourselves down as we grow up. We worry about what others think, we save the fun for “someday,” and we get so busy that the days blur together. These two haven’t forgotten what the rest of us are still trying to remember.
As the year starts to wind down, my hope is that we can all laugh and smile a little more, and be our authentic selves a little more. Take a cue from the person in your family who never learned to hold back. Notice them, learn from them, and thank them for it.
Life is meant to be lived, not just tolerated.
Who’s the “one” in your family?