I remember the giddiness.
I was in 4th class I think, so around 9 years old, c.1987.
Every day when I got home from school I’d open up the travel agents brochure and study the pool at the holiday resort in Lanzarote.
I’d chat to Mum about how many hours I’d spend in the water, how many laps I’d try to complete holding my breath, who I might make friends with, and how I might communicate with them if they didn’t speak English.
This was a daily routine for what felt like an eternity, but was probably only 4-6 weeks, ahead of our break over Easter.
The timelessness of childhood excitement.
I can remember the build up to the holiday so vividly. The excitement was tangible. I could feel it physically, elevating my mood.
This past week, I’ve been taken right back to that sense of childhood excitement.
On Saturday, we head away on our first family ski trip. The kids have been pumped for weeks!
Edie created a countdown calendar the day we told them. She has crossed out each of the last 45 days, only 2 more sleeps to go.
Then yesterday, poor Edie woke up with a soaring temperature and a strep throat…fingers crossed the antibiotics will kick in quicksmart.
Nico has devoured YouTube clips for ski tips, repeatedly informing me that the snow plough is now called the pizza.
Then yesterday, he started holding his breath every time he was within a 2m radius of Edie.
When Edie and Nico asked the inevitable “what if…” worst-case-scenario questions about not travelling, or not being able to ski even if they can travel, I had to consider them myself too.
What if one of us is sick over there?
The stoics sometimes recommend a ‘negative visualisation’ akin to the worst-case-scenario. My mind was taken to a darker place than a strep throat.
If we’re sick, we’re sick. So be it.
But the likelihood is that we’ll all be fine, fighting fit. Edie is strong, healthy and young – she’ll recover and be on the slopes on Sunday as planned.
And if not, so be it. We’ll enjoy the hotel together and take turns enjoying the slopes too.
There’ll probably be the odd meltdown, let’s be honest. The kids will be exhausted, and they won’t see their batteries draining.
Overall though, the build up to this family holiday, like the one from my own childhood, has been magical.
It’s that unique sense of timelessness that is quite special.
It is filled with energy, joy and vitality (until yesterday!)
The other day I found myself about to say “I can’t wait for next week”, and then I stopped myself.
Instead I said, “I’m giddy”.
There’s an inner child waiting to jump out and play inside all of us.
- Try and pause for a moment, and see some part of your life through the eyes of a child.
- What could be simplified by the shift in perspective?
And then consider the stoic approach, of a negative visualisation (consider the worst case scenario).
- Having considered it, what’s your update perspective on your current predicament?
At the very least, it’s a nice window to look out of.