That Sense Of Wonder

I answered the knock at our front door and he came barreling right in yelling “Grandma, Grandma – I’m Spiderman!!!”  There he was, my two year old grandson with a Spiderman mask on his face and a Disney Cars backpack on his back.   He ran in the door all wide-eyed and full of excitement pretending to shoot spider webs from his hands. He jumped up on the couch to have us look at his little Spiderman shoes and then called out for his Papa (Grandpa) to come and play cars with him. 

Together he and Papa dragged a box full of matchbox racing tracks and began building a racetrack that went from the couch down to the floor.  Still touting his Spiderman mask and his Disney Cars backpack he began to send the matchbox cars down the hill.  He would shout with excitement as each car made it to the end of the track and then hurriedly run to grab it so he could send it down the track again.

As I sat watching the scene I couldn’t help but appreciate his sense of wonder.  He has wide-eyed excitement about even the smallest things.  To him, all of life is a grand adventure. He doesn’t see a couch as simply a couch, but a hill he can build a racetrack on for his cars can go racing down.  He doesn’t see a piece of fabric as simply fabric, but a superhero cape that gives him the ability to fly.  Everything is something new to be discovered and there are no limits because he can imagine whatever he chooses.

As grown-ups its so easy to become desensitized to all the little wonders that surround us. We find ourselves taking on more of a “been there, done that” attitude rather than viewing things with that wide-eyed excitement we did as a child. We begin to dread the day to day and we view things as drudgery. We adopt the attitude that only a big trip or an audacious plan can provide us any excitement. Our sense of wonder dwindles.

But we don’t have to lose that sense of wonder if we don’t want to. We can make a conscious choice to see the world the way my little grandson does – we can choose to see a world where ANYTHING is possible and all it takes to be a superhero is to put on a mask. 🙂

Flynn (aka. Spiderman)

~Amy Rees Anderson (author of the book “What Awesome Looks Like: How To Excel in Business & Life” )

2 Comments

  • Charlene Dickerson says:

    Where do I start.. We’ll I’m here doing a client… CNA work and I’ve got this idea of being an entrepreneur but I have no idea where to start or what to do…I told my self I have to jump on this idea or someone else would think of it and I’d be sitting in the back burner saying to myself why didn’t I at least try to look into starting my own business… But I know nothing at all how to start or where? My friend sent me a reading on integrity and as I was reading it a name appeared in the reading “Amy Rees Anderson” A successful business woman and investor…And I said to myself could she actually be the answer to my prayers, could she actually help.. Maybe… I asked myself would she even email me back… Maybe..Could you please email me back I have an idea to start a business with an idea I thought of.. I’ll tell you what my idea is so please email me back so I can see if my idea is even worth thinking about even though I think it is… Thank you for listening… Single mom in Springfield.

  • Veronica Almeida says:

    My grandson Asher who is four loves spiderman too. He wears it all the time. Amazing to think the way a super here does. Thanks for sharing!

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