“How do you make the sky, Mummy?”  It was a glimpse into the beautiful world that my four year old Little Niece D lives in.  It’s a world full of wonder, with little expectation and plenty of interest.  Two year old Little Niece P sings herself to sleep.  “Wind the bobbin up.  Pull, pull, clap, clap, clap.  Hooray!”  She’s not being pulled into the past, ruminating about her day, or pushed into the future, worrying about tomorrow.  At 8.30 every morning, I hear two young boys whoop with delight as they scoot down the hill to school.  Their joy is infectious.  It reminds me to start each new day with a smile. 

Little people are open to explore.  They question with curiosity.  They accept what is.  They don’t cling to a certain way of being or attach meaning to different feelings, labeling them as good or bad.  Maybe that’s why their emotional states shift so quickly and why they seem so naturally able to inhabit the present moment.  Of course, these little people have so far been protected from many of life’s difficulties.  They don’t yet have responsibility and they have few learnt behaviours, deep seated beliefs and pre-conceived ideas.  They’re experiencing many things for the very first time, with truly fresh eyes.   I’m sure it’s their natural present moment awareness that allows them to smile on their way to school, sing themselves to sleep and question the wonder of something so many adults perhaps don’t even notice.

We seem to lose this ability to live in the present moment as we get older.  Our thoughts, memories and perceptions start to colour our experience, taking us away from the immediate moment.  Something that was once so natural becomes an elusive concept we practice hard to re-discover.  These little people can be wonderful mini mindfulness teachers.  You can watch the awe they experience in the everyday things we so often take for granted, stop noticing or even actively push away.  I believe we all still have the open, curious and accepting child within us.  The next time you’re in the company of a little person, try taking a look at the world through their eyes.