Puddle Jumping

As a grown up, I realize that through the course of life I have learned many valuable lessons. Some of them were taught to me by my mom and dad. Some of them I learned in school and through experience. Many of them were taught to me by my aunts. Now, I am an aunt and my oldest niece recently started kindergarten. I know taht they say everything you need to know you learn in kindergarten. I disagree. I believe there are some things that one cannot learn in a classroom. These are lessons that can only be learned by living. So, here it is. A year's worth of tiny words of wisdom for all of the nieces and nephews out there, or really for anyone who will listen. They may not work for everybody and you may not agree with all of them, but each is a rule that I either try to live by or wish I did.

# 37 Jump barefoot in puddles

For the last three days in New York City it has been raining. All of the women on New York and even some men have adorned their rain boots, goulashes, and raincoats. Everyone is so concerned about getting their feet wet. On days like today, when the ground is covered with terrific puddles, and as I step in one I realize that my rain boot has a hole in it, I am taken back to the days of childhood.
When I was a little girl, my mom and I would always go walk around the neighborhood barefoot after a big storm. Don't worry, I am not encouraging all of NYC to start walking barefoot after a rain, but you should go somewhere once in your life where this kind of behavior is acceptable.
My mom and I would walk all over the neighborhood seeking out the best puddles. We would roll up our pants and go puddle jumping. We would splash and carry on like we were both children. We would laugh and squeal and every time we got to a really big one, we would take hands and count to three. ONE! TWO! THREE! JUMP! Sometimes we were having so much fun that some of the neighbors would come out and join us. I always looked forward to a rain, because that meant that mom and I could go jumping in the puddles.
No matter how old you are, child or child at heart, you can still do this. Go out after a rain on a warm day and jump barefoot in puddles until your little heart's content. I promise that it will, at least momentarily, make you forget all your worries. It has the power to make grown ups feel like children again, and to make children feel as if they never want to grow up.
Recommended reading: Jumping in Puddles by, Claire Allan

The first piece of advice...

As a grown up, I have realized that in the course of life I have learned many valuable lessons. Some of them were taught to me by my mom and dad. Some I learned in school and through experience. Many I learned from my aunts. Now I am aunt and my oldest neice recently started kindergarten. I know that they say everything you need to know, you learn in kindergarten. I believe that there are many things that one cannot learn in a classroom. These are things that can only be learned by living. So, for the next year I plan to give some tiny words of wisdom to all of the neices and nephews in the world, or really to anyone who will listen. They might not work for everybody, and you might not agree with all of them, but each one is a rule that I either try to live by, or wish I did.

Today I want to begin with this one:

Dance in the rain. It helps you grow.
It may seem silly, but there is nothing like getting caught in a warm summer rain. Instead of running for the nearest place of refuge, take a second to stand there with your arms open wide, your eyes closed, and your head turned to the sky. Let the water splash your face and cleanse your heart. Then when you are certain that everyone is looking at you as if you are crazy, wave your arms and DANCE. It doesn't have to be good, or to a beat, because when you dance in the rain it is to your own tune and your own melody. Let the rain embrace you and dance until you are completely soaked. I almost guarantee that you will feel all of your burdens lifted and your spirits will be a little higher.