May 7: Someone that Inspires You

I spent most of today with my mom, so I was definitely going to use her for this post, but then I peeked ahead at the upcoming days in the photo challenge, and I saw that May 13 (Mother's Day) is obviously all about Mom. So, I'm saving her for a future post.

Once I made that decision, I spent the rest of the day trying to decide who I should pick. I have a lot of people in my life that inspire me, but I wanted to pick someone who inspired me in a special way today. And that would be Miss Olivia.

My little sister often inspires me to be more creative, slow down and smell the roses, and just be silly. She has made such a huge difference in my life. Today, Olivia taught me to appreciate the little things.

I think this is the beautiful thing about little kids: they know how to enjoy the small things in life. Many a parent have told stories about their children playing with a cardboard box on Christmas morning instead of the expensive toy they bought them. Children just see things differently than adults do. They don't see price tags or social status. They see a fort made of cardboard.

Yesterday, Olivia won a prize at Sunday School for doing her homework. The entire way into church she talked about which prize she would pick and how much she wanted a certain black horse. She went on and on about this horse. So, we got to church, took her to her classroom, and each of us went our own merry way. I headed to the fellowship center and started chatting with a friend. Pretty soon, I felt someone tugging on my skirt. It was Olivia, her face was flushed and her eyes were glowing.

"Megan! I won the horse!" she said. "I got the horse!"

She was so incredibly excited. I looked down at the little plastic horse in her hand. It wasn't any bigger than the length of my hand. To me, it looked highly overrated, but to her, it was a precious treasure. It made me smile to see her so happy.

I didn't think about the differences of our responses to the toy until today. Olivia was able to appreciate something as small as a plastic horse. I was not. She has inspired me to lose my high expectations and take the time to love the little things. Like talking to my best friend. Looking at pictures with my mom. Helping my sister work on her flash cards.

Because after all, it's the little things in life that matter the most.