Back to School

School started this week. Some parts of the country are still basking in the last rays of summer vacation, but here in Pensacola, Florida, they begin (and end) summer vacation earlier than many other areas of the country. Maybe I'm crazy, but it seems to get earlier every year. Or maybe it's just that I'm getting old, and everything seems to happen faster now than it did when I was little and actually had a reason to anticipate summer vacation. Heck, I even anticipated the beginning of the school year. 

Yup, you read that right. I actually looked forward to starting school again after summer vacation. 

Yes. I am a nerd. Get over it.

I happened to love school. Sure, there were aspects of the whole thing that I would have gladly given up (like book reports, science, and tests of any kind), but I really did like the security of that little bubble called academia. It was safe. It was structured. And there wasn't much decision-making to be made on my part beyond what to wear every day (even though that was an extremely distressing decision for me––just ask my mother), who to trade lunch with, and whether on not the boy whose cubby-hole was next to yours was cute or just plain annoying. 

Even when I got older, I still loved the sense of fulfillment I got from a full day hitting the books. And the safety and order of a class schedule. I liked knowing what was next, knowing that, most of the time, there wasn't going to be anything unpredictable about my day. 

Hi, my name is Liesel; and I am a control freak. 

Isn't it funny how, when you're little, you think that being an adult means having more control over your own life? Really, I think the opposite happens. No, you don't have parents telling you anymore what you can and can't do, but there are so many other people you have to answer to. Bosses, spouses, co-workers...the government. Bigger decisions must be made, which means bigger responsibility and bigger consequences. 

There is suddenly more at stake than whether you might later regret the decision to trade your chocolate chip cookies for a chocolate pudding cup. 

As we get older, its easy to forget to take time to enjoy being childlike as we get tied up in the big things. Next time you're cursing the flashing school zone lights for slowing down your commute, take a minute to think about what you loved about being a kid in school...then see if you can find someone at work who wants to trade with you at lunch.