The wisdom of youth

I had the opportunity to spend several hours in the company of an eight-year-old. Although there are quite a few decades difference in our ages, it was easy to relate to one another. I was especially intrigued when she showed me a number of short videos she had produced using her iPad. With somewhat of a role reversal I reacted with, "Could you teach me how to do that?" She agreed after asking me how I planned to use the videos and assuring me that she would check to see if they would work with my website. We laughed about how I was the one who was there to teach her, not the opposite. The more I am around young people, the more I feel hopeful of what they bring into this lifetime. And yes, I also observed her quarreling with her younger brother, reminding me that she is still a typical eight-year-old. When you open yourself up to what young people have to offer, you create a mutual respect for the uniqueness of each person. We are given so many opportunities to establish such relationships and yet we pass them by without a second thought. Our teachers take on many different shapes and sizes and ages. When was the last time you learned something from a child?