I have a two year old boy, Caleb, who is constantly on the go. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve begun to notice that his energy and enthusiasm for life is unstoppable—really, it’s unstoppable. For example, in our subdivision, we live on a cul-de-sac that is essentially a roundabout. When we go out to play in the yard, he isn’t climbing trees, playing with trucks or jumping around on the grass, he’s running multiple laps around the circle for fun.
When he plays with his older sister, he grabs and runs. It’s a fun game—to him. To her, it’s just mean. When you tell him to stop, he will for a moment, but then the game picks up again. This time slightly different than the last. The back forth ensues as long as it takes for his mom or I to notice.
When he plays indoors, it’s in and on everything. He thinks he’s invincible so he therefore runs, leaps, flies and jumps, oftentimes landing close enough to a corner to make my heart leap, only to be relieved by his smirky smile and laugh.
In all of these things, he’s often corrected: don’t jump, don’t take that from your sister, don’t do this, don’t do that. Caleb—-STOP!
Imagine if we had the persistence of a two year-old for just one moment. Here are five things I’ve learned from watching him:
- Don’t let NO stop you. Persistence demands repetition. Which leads me to my second point.
- Be aware of how your actions effect others – By all means, become self-aware. This is the key to being a strong leader!
- Rest/Eat/Play & Repeat – The key to keeping a two year old living optimally is rest, food and play. Adequate measures of all of these will make for a healthy, active life.
- Jump! – The risk is often greater in your head, than in reality.
- Laugh & have fun – If there’s anything that I’ve learned from my two year old, it’s to laugh and by all means, have fun. Everything to him is an opportunity for fun. Every single thing.
What have you learned from your two year old?
