Big Inspiration from Small Packages

Inspiration comes in many shapes and forms. Politicians look to former political giants Lincoln, Jefferson and Franklin as model statesmen. Musicians look to Mozart, The Beatles, B.B. King. I recently learned a lesson in optimism, confidence, bravery and determination from a very unlikely source: my three year old daughter.

My wife and daughter are living in Singapore while I am living the "bule jomblo" (expat bachelor) life in Jakarta. This means my daughter is not attending school, and my wife needs to find activities to occupy her young mind and energetic spirit. In one such attempt, they visited an indoor playground in Singapore. Initially, due to the cost, my wife considered leaving and going somewhere else. Eventually, she decided to pay the fee and resolved to stay at least a few hours to obtain full value from the price. Here is the rest of the story, as my wife relayed it to me.

When they first arrived, there were kids in abundance, mostly my daughter's age. My daughter had fun running, and climbing and laughing with the other children. Within twenty or thirty minutes, however, one by one, they started leaving. When they had all departed, my daughter played by herself for a while, and then approached my wife and said: "There are no more kids to play with, I want to go home."

This was not what my wife had hoped for. For the price we paid, thirty minutes was far too short a time to spend there. Attempts to cajole her back out to the floor to play be herself were pointless. So, my wife agreed they could leave.

As they were packing their things in preparation to leave, a group of five girls, aged 8-10, burst through the doors and began running to one of the fort-like play sets at the top of some stairs in the back of the indoor playground. As they sped by my much more diminutive, much younger daughter, without hesitation, she took off after them shouting "Wait up guys! Wait up!"

My wife was immediately concerned. These girls were much older and not likely to want to play with a child my daughter's age. Anyone who was ever in the third grade knows that playing with a pre-schooler during your free time is not at the top of your list. My wife was rightfully concerned. My daughter was nothing but optimism.

My daughter made her way to the top of the stairs and watched the older girls for just a few seconds before venturing: "Can I play with you guys?" Imagine that. A three-year-old girl, in a strange country, looking at five girls with dark eyes and dark hair who could not look more different from my blond-haired, chubby cheeked daughter, and believing, without a doubt, that they would want to play with her. That requires confidence. But confidence alone doesn't explain offering yourself up to the unknown, you must also be brave.

The eldest of the girls was the first to respond. She didn't mince words, and simply said "No." From a distance, my wife could see the disappointment my daughter felt. Her head dropped. Her shoulders drooped, and she began to slowly turn away to walk back to the safety of her mother. My wife was prepared with consoling words. Words she didn't have to utter because one of the younger girls said "I'll play with you."

My daughter lit up like fireworks at the closing of DisneyLand. She walked over to the girl and said, "Do you want to play tag?" The much taller, much older girls said "Sure" and took off.

Now, I wasn't there to see it in person, but from what my wife told me, this girl was fast....and serious. She was running like Jackie Joyner-Kersey when she won Olympic gold. Her arms were bent and pumping back and forth. Her hands were flat, with fingers firmly together, pointing forward. She was the bionic woman and my daughter was a mere mortal, helplessly chasing after her.

Many kids would have just given up. Recognized the superiority of their opponent and just stopped trying. Not my daughter. She persisted. She followed the catchphrase of her favorite Animal Mechanical cartoon character: "I can do this!" She never did catch her - this isn't a Disney cartoon - but she never gave up, either. She was determined to have fun playing tag with this older girl, and the fact that she would never catch her wasn't going to stop her. That's determination.

As parents, we hope that we are able to impart many characteristics to our children - pride, ambition, humility, kindness. We view it as our job, as good parents, to be role models and their inspiration. I find that the longer I am a parent, the more time I spend watching my daughter grow, the more she becomes my inspiration and my role model. We want to help our children become good people. Along the way, they help us become better people, too.