Little Cuz

Sometimes you learn things from the most unsuspecting people. Let me rephrase that. You can learn so much from people you would never guess could teach you anything. We just have to listen. What makes me stress this so much? I’ll get back to that.

A child’s optimism is incredible. Truthfully, their optimism is most likely due to their lack of knowledge. Yet, regardless of where it comes from, if you listen, you will pick up a lot. I have a four year old cousin named Zach. He is 2 feet, 9 inches tall if you round upward. He fits comfortably underneath the bathroom sink. Yet despite his size, he has more fight in him than anyone that size should. He is so persistent simply because he doesn’t see why he shouldn’t be.

He calls me Camel, because we play a game where he rides around on my back, and that was the first transporting animal he thought of at the time. He asks me all the time to play, and if I don’t feel like it at the moment, or if I just finished playing with him, I will say “No buddy, not right now, Camel’s tired.” He replies to this in a polite manner, simply saying “Ok, but after Camel’s done being tired, we will play again k?” Some may call it him pestering me, and I wouldn’t necessarily disagree, but I see it more as optimism. He doesn’t see why he wouldn’t get to do what he wants. He lives in a little world of guaranteed gratification. Because of his ignorance, he lives in bliss.

As I think about this, I recall him and I swimming this past weekend (actually, I was swimming. He was clung to my shoulders, life jacket employed, playing “Water Camel”). I had gotten out, and of course he followed me. He told me to chuck him into the deep end. It was an easy task, he weighs a total of 20 pounds. But the kid can’t swim, and I wasn’t about to send my beloved cousin toward his doom. I told him I couldn’t because he could drown. He didn’t understand, so I told him he would hit the bottom, avoiding a conversation about drowning. He simply replied “Well if I hit the bottom, I’ll just jump back up!” As foolish as it sounded at first, coming from a toddler, the statement was truly profound. The child had just taught me an important lesson through a metaphor, without even knowing what a metaphor was.

If you have ever felt like you have hit rock bottom in life, it is important to not think rigidly. Life can suck, there’s no avoiding that. But being at rock bottom is, by no means, a bad experience. I have begun to think of life, with the help of Zach, like a swimming pool. If you are truly at the bottom, you are in an ideal position to push off, and soar upward.