Rachel, my 3 ½ year old granddaughter loves the music from the show Aladdin, especially the song, A Whole New World. She knows all the words by heart. One of my favorite times lately is tucking her into bed, either at her house when I babysit or at mine when she has a sleep-over, and singing to her A Whole New World. I, of course, have to pull out my copy of the words since I don’t remember them as she does.
But let’s back track a minute. Before getting to bed she sometimes goes through the normal resistance. I get it – who wants to stop playing? Who wants to end a day of Fun, awe, amazement and curiosity? It is a whole new world for someone here only three- plus years. No one wants to stop and turn off the lights on that.
And so I start to sing that tomorrow is a whole new day… of more play….
She eventually gets into bed and I sing the real song and watch her fluttering eyelids as they gently close down for the night; gentleness and beauty in its purest form.
Imagine if we all went to sleep feeling the wonder of a whole new day tomorrow. And then woke up raring to greet the day with hope and joy.
Of course there are many of us who feel the opposite –who don’t want to welcome a new day; it’s too painful. The loss may be too great, the sadness too deep, the stress too overwhelming. It’s normal to want to resist waking up to {another} new day. The covers can keep us tucked into darkness.
And when the pain is there and we feel it too much to bear, we can sit with these feelings knowing that just as plants turn and grow towards the light, so too we eventually turn and seek out the light, however small the rays may be. Emotions don’t remain the same and their intensity certainly fluctuates. That new day can bring fresh perspectives, new chances, new paths, renewed hope. We have to allow ourselves the opportunity to accept it.
One thing is for sure: the new day will dawn, and it will then fade away as night awaits its turn. This is the predictability of life as we know it.
My hope is that we can infuse our days with wonder, awe, joy and even fun amidst our work and ‘busyness’. Hey, we might even feel a tiny bit sad that this day is done. And when it’s been a rough day where we look forward to it finally coming to an end, then we can hope for a better day tomorrow where we can create and bring in some child-like wonderment. It’s a whole new world for us adults too, if we choose to view it that way. There’s always something new out there to see and learn and experience.
