One night when I was home for winter break, my dad and I went bowling. I was surprised to see the usually barren bowling alley filled with groups on almost all lanes, and was sort of annoyed when we had to share the lane with another family (mostly because I was on the bowling team in high school and no one knows about lane courtesy) (I’m a nerd, I know).
However, throughout the night I became more and more thankful that my dad and I were set next to this family because they had the most wonderful daughter. She was probably 5 years old, and she was a bundle of joy. My favorite thing about her was that she was happy when she hit even one pin, not upset when she didn’t knock down all the pins. She even cheered on her family; her dad needed the most cheered up as he was taking this fun night out much too seriously.
My dad and I cheered her on as she would come running up the lane to her family, and she would smile and give us a thumbs up. She was adorable and her energy made me so happy, and really the only thing I could think of was how much I hoped that she would stay like this. Life gets harder than knocking down pins, and some people try to knock down others with such a positive ray of energy and happiness. More than anything, I hoped that she’ll be able to overcome life’s negativity and be able to teach others what I learned from her that night.
Don’t take life too seriously.
While, yes, bowling can be a mind-game of a sport, it’s nothing to get too upset over. This little girl’s dad took his game much too seriously and paid attention to his pitcher of beer instead of his daughter, and I was so sad watching that. But then I realized that most of us do this on an almost everyday occasion; we get too caught up in something that’s going on in our own little world that we miss out on what’s happening around us. We get upset about trivial things, making ourselves feel disappointed in something that’s not really that big of a deal. Instead, we should brush off our accidents, try to learn from our mistakes, and have a good time while we’re doing our best to live this crazy life. The greatest advice my dad has given me is to do your best and have fun. Sometimes I had to realize that I wasn’t going to be the best on the field or court, but as long as I had fun I felt like I was winning no matter the outcome.
Cheer others on.
Like I said before, this little girl was not only happy when she got one point, but she would cheer on her mom and dad the same way. And although her dad was taking the game a bit too seriously, he would smile when his daughter cheered him on like that. So, whether someone is an amazing athlete or they’re just trying to get off the bench, it’s important to cheer them on and encourage them. Doing this will help their self-esteem, and it could also do a number for your happiness, too.
Stay positive.
Don’t get bogged down by stuff that doesn’t really matter. Be happy for what you did do, and work on yourself to be better on things that you’re not good at or don’t like about yourself. Celebrate even tiny accomplishments, and work towards having a positive outlook on yourself and others throughout the day. Being judgmental, competitive, and generally negative does nothing good for yourself nor others. Stay away from those things.
What I thought was just going to be a fun night bowling with my dad strangely turned into me learning some great life lessons from a five-year-old that didn’t even know what an influence she was being. I guess it might be strange that I looked this far into how this girl was behaving, but I try to see positivity and learn from every small occurrence. Having fun with life, being positive, and encouraging others are things that we could all learn to incorporate in our lives. I think if we all looked around and tried to see the good in others, we would be surprised and might learn a lot.
