I Learnt My Best Lesson On Life From My Four-Year-Old

I was walking down the street with my four and half year old daughter skipping along beside me. We were walking home from school. This time is just for us — mother and daughter sans her dad or her brother. We talk about what happened in school, what I did when she was at school and about pretty much anything she wants to talk about. As we walked on, I decided to tell her about the advanced swimming lessons I had just started with. Though I had been swimming for years, I had now engaged a professional coach to teach me the correct form and technique. And it was hard. In just one lesson, I had realized that I had a lot of unlearning and relearning to do. I could hold my breath pretty well, but my coach wanted me to learn how to breathe properly instead, so that I could sustain my momentum. Though that sounds like a wonderful metaphor for life, I assure you when one is struggling to remember to lock one’s chin, put one’s face in the water, push off, kick, do one stroke after the other and stay afloat without getting water in your nose, it doesn’t feel like one.

I was dreading my second lesson that was coming up and when my daughter asked me what I was thinking about, I sighed and told her about my anxiety.

My little one stopped her skipping and looked me directly in the eye.

Then she said, “Amma, is today tomorrow?”

And I realized that she was right. Today was today and I was spending too much of it worrying about something in the future instead of focusing on the now.

She went on to explain, “Amma, first we have to get home, then eat lunch, then play and play, then eat dinner and cuddle and sleep. Then it will be tomorrow. So don’t worry ok. It is still today”

And I took her advice.

Today is not tomorrow and till tomorrow gets here, it is fine to live in the now.

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