Put on Your Purple Shoes and Dance

Sometimes you just have to put on your purple shoes and dance.

Is Adulting Getting You Down?

A lot is being posted to social media these days about “adulting.”  It seems to mean being an adult when what you really want to do is remain a child.  Who hasn’t had times like that?

It’s funny that we spend so much of our teen and early-adult years trying to behave as we think adults do.  Then we spend so much time in our adult years wishing we were still children.  Sometimes we even behave childishly.

We are just so blindly reminiscent of our childhoods.  No responsibility.  Lots of play time.  Having our every need catered to our liking.  Ah, bliss!

A Child’s Life

The last couple of days I have had the good fortune to observe a child’s life.  Much of what we long for does exist in this child’s life.  She has no responsibilities and she plays most of the day.  Her parents take care of everything she needs.  However, even for a child life has a down side.  This tiny, but powerful, force of nature who is my granddaughter does not get everything her way.  Her cruel parents make her eat real food, not chocolate, for meals.  She is not allowed unlimited TV and iPad time.  She cannot dictate when the car goes fast and when it stops.  Worst of all, she is forced into the bath tub every night before storytime and then (gasp!) BEDTIME.  Childhood is not quite as idyllic as we remember, at least not to a child.

This brought home to me how often our lives are just out of our control.   Unexpected expenses, accidents, illnesses, rained out vacations, flat tires.  It’s not living an idyll that is the true mark of a life well-lived.  It is how we handle the unexpected that life serves up.  Sometimes we have to put on our big kid pants and just deal with life.  Sometimes, there is no dealing to be done.  What do you do then?

When You Just Need to Dance

The answer came to me on a balmy evening spent on a beautiful porch with my family.  My three year old granddaughter was thwarted by the powers that be (the adults) in an activity deemed to be inappropriate in some way.   She tried pitching a tantrum with real tears, a tactic that failed miserably.  She whined, but this was an experienced group of parents who did not give in.  She bargained to no avail.  How often do we use the adult versions of these tactics and how often do they also fail us as adults?

Finally, she took the only action left to her.  She put on her purple shoes and danced.  With each twirl she giggled and with each twirl her frustrations melted away.  She dealt with life by choosing to be happy.

The next time adulting gets you down, just put on your purple shoes and dance.

I am linking up with Inspire Me Tuesday  ,  The Scoop,  Metamorphosis Monday , and Wonderful Wednesday.

The following are affiliate links. These links are to purple shoes that caught my eye, not ones that I own. I don’t have any purple shoes. I prefer to dance in red ones! See my full disclosure policy here.