we stopped asking

listening to: The Fall of Troy - F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X.
cool video



one of my favorite things to do at work is to talk to younger kids. i get so much amusement out of anything that they have to say. sometimes a kid seems really quite until you start talking to them and then you can't get them to stop talking back. it's great to see them smile at things like this.

there was a little boy that came in with his mom just wednesday that i talked to. he asked me what my name was and i told him mine and asked what his was. i don't remember his name, i probably couldn't make out what he said very well. he knew that he was at costco with his mom, so he asked me where my mom was. i told him that she was probably at home with my brother and sisters. he asked why and i said that they were probably eating dinner. he asked why. i said probably because they were hungry. he asked why and i said because they had been working and needed to eat food. i think he got a couple more "why" questions in before it was time for him to go and say bye.

i'm sure you've heard of this kind of thing happening if you haven't had it happen to yourself. a child, probably in honest curiosity, will keep asking "why?" even when there is no more logical answeres to give to the "why" question, they'll keep asking.

when did we stop asking that question?
why did we stop asking why?

i don't know when or exactly why we stopped, but i think sometimes we need to pick that habit back up again.

what i'm thinking about in this vein pertains to education. we discussed this a little tonight at Real Men, the hollow reality of the "American Dream."

Wikipedia defines the American Dream like this:

"The American Dream today often refers to one's material wealth which is dependent upon one's abilities and work ethic, and not on a rigid class structure"

How do you acheive this dream? In my opinion, I think most people would say something like this;

Go to school, get a good education. Study hard and get good grades in high school. Then get into a good college and continue to study hard so you can get a degree. Maybe stay in school and get an advanced degree. Then you go get that job. You go get that high paying job and you climb the ranks as far as you can and you make the money. You get the house, the car(s), the home theater, the fancy clothes and all the material things like that. And then maybe you ask why.

but I think the "why" should have come up a lot earlier in this timeline.
why do you want to do well in high school?
-to get into a good college.
ok, why do you want to get into a good college?
-to get a good job
ok, why do you want a good job?
-to make good money
why do you want money?
-to buy stuff

maybe the answers go a little differently for you. maybe you define "good job" as something you really love doing, no matter what the pay is.

why are you chasing money when so much of the wisdom in the world screams that money will not make you happy?

all i want is friends and family. i'm happy with that. ok, and music too probably :)
i absolutely do not need to be rich. i don't need (and actually probably don't want) kids that grow up with everything handed to them. I certainly want to provide for them, but I've come across too many kids with money that take more for granted than even the average american.

i juggled a soccer ball around in a driveway yesterday and loved it. i want to do that kind of thing more often. i don't play enough. i thank God for His House social events, i like getting out but i don't do it enough on my own. one of the things i grabbed from the house yesterday was my tennis racket. i like playing tennis, but i haven't done it in a long time. i want to do that. i want to enjoy sunshine and laughter and meaningful relationships with other people. i want to play music and play soccer and praise God in all of it. I want to do things I love. I don't want to chase after sums of money that will never satisfy my soul. i don't think this is impossible. not at all.

and i love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. but that's another story that i'm keeping close to home for now. haha.

it's simple things that i find making me happiest. why would i trade them for something else?