Adulting Are You a Fan of the Unknown?

My mom-in-law sent me some pictures of my brother-in-law at their local father/daughter dance. He had three charming little dates. As I saw the girls’ beaming faces, I could only think in exclamation points: How sweet! What great memories! Look at that proud Papa!

I saw those snapshots immediately from the perspective of an adult. I didn’t once think of the perspective of the girls, and how they must have been excited to get ready for a fancy night out. Maybe it’s because I don’t have children that I had to “switch gears” to think about the evening from their perspective.

Being older, I’m now walking into a territory of life I didn’t always understand or know. When young, I only saw half of the story: my viewpoint. I could imagine what the adults were thinking. I could absolutely express my opinion of their actions, but I didn’t have their perspective. It was a mystery.

So why is aging amazing?

Just as we turn book pages to understand more of the story, so it is as we face each day of our life. I feel like now we are slowly being given the missing puzzle pieces.

Due to our aging, the other side of the coin is being revealed.

I guess I like knowing the unknown. Questions from my childhood are being answered:

Why did my Grandma behave a certain way?

Why did my teacher respond to me as she did?

Why do older people get excited about “boring” things?

Why did my parents make a particular decision for me?

As a result of these answered questions, I think we have the opportunity to be more understanding people, but we also get to experience life at a greater depth, delve further into its fullness, and become more multifaceted beings.

​“For in every adult there dwells the child that was, and in every child there lies the adult that will be.” ― John Connolly, The Book of Lost Things