Look Ma, No Fear!

As long as humanity has existed, so has the vast unknown.  One of the greatest joys in the history of this world has been the discovery of new and exciting information.  Of course there have always been risks associated with gaining that knowledge, but the human race has weighed the costs and overcome adversities and fears, going beyond the great unknown into the vast reaches of space and discovering new life and new civilizations, boldly going where no one has gone before!

Ok, so maybe it is a little different than the science fiction shows make it out to be.  It is often the rare individuals who crave excitement, who reach out beyond the typical comfort zone.  Let's just be honest here:  for some such as these, facing the unknown IS their comfort zone.  The old saying that curiosity killed the cat can prove true for individual humans as well.  Ever hear of the Darwin Awards?

Closer to home, it is a miracle that my oldest daughter has survived to be almost 9 years old, for she has the explorer's spirit like nobody else I have met.  Nyssa has been as reckless as she is fearless and impulsive, and I have the grey hairs to prove it!  But at least the others have given me some respite in this arena.  Gabriela, while curious, does seem to think things through a little better, and the boys seem to have had phobias coming out their ears.

Ah!  The joys of parenting gifted and unusual children!  They have kept me on my toes the last few years, and lately has been no exception.  Now, just as a certain amount of fearlessness can be a bad thing, so too can be an overdose of fear; there must be a balance between the two.  Up until recently, anything that involved change was frightening to Nathaniel, and therefore hard on him.

He hasn't always responded well to the unknown.  He enjoys staying grounded.  Regular swings do nothing for him, but he loves the comfort of swinging in a cocooned seat.  Climbing trees meant becoming ungrounded with no constant securing pressure to hold him in place.  While he was fearful of such things, it was also a relief to have one less thing to worry about in regard to him.  That is, until about three weeks ago.

Now, because of Nyssa's fearlessness and Nathaniel's past tendency to run, I don't do the typical stay in the house and clean while the children play in the back yard.  I'd love to be able to do that, but it's simply not practical, nor is it safe to do so.  Instead, I work in the garden or straighten the yard when it is a nice sunny day and the kids can play, running off all that extra energy that I'd love to be able to zap from their bodies so I can use it myself.

That being said, this one day I had gone into the laundry room to put clothes in the dryer and realized how late it was getting.  I called the children to come inside for the evening and my dear son was nowhere to be found.  At first I thought he had run inside and was hiding, but realized he had not gone past me.  So I went back outside and called him.  It took a couple minutes before I heard him somewhere in the front yard.  I looked and still did not see him.  Finally, I heard him giggling from a place that sounded from above.

Now, before this, the highest our little gift had climbed was to the top of the slide.  Imagine my shock when I looked above and saw him in the distance.  He had managed, using the pine tree next to him, to climb this sweet gum tree and was about 18 feet over my head.  I quickly fought the panic that threatened to arise in my throat as I realized the impossibility of me being able to get up to him should he have trouble getting down, or of catching him safely should he fall.  In the calmest voice possible, I told him it was time to come inside because it was getting dark out and he wouldn't be able to see much longer.  It took him a few minutes, but he eventually scrambled down to the ground unscathed.

A mixture of emotions flooded my soul, from the visions of him slipping to the joys of finding him doing something you would expect of a typical boy his age.  Though caution remains in my mind and gives yet a new reason to stay outside with my children while they play, something else also stays with me, something that shows how Nathaniel faces challenges every day and yet is learning how to overcome them; this is part of what brings such hope to my heart.

The memory of that innocent, gleeful giggle that emanated pure joy and pride in his successful climb will always remain transfixed in my mind.  This was something new!    There was no quivering of voice nor uncertainty in his tone, merely the contentment of a wondrous experience.  He had faced this fear and discovered the simple joys of sitting in a tree, watching nature at work around him.  

Just thinking of him like that makes me wonder.  How often are we faced with daunting opposition in which our fears keep us from discovering a new facet of life?  When there is a bird's nest of exciting life just above our heads and we are too afraid to just reach up and take a few steps holding on to the tree of life, we are missing out on the wonder of the world around us.  I, for one, am grateful for those courageous, now and in times past, such as Galileo, Uri Gagarin, and Neil Armstrong.  These are ones who have faced adversity, whether in the thoughts and beliefs of those around them, or the undiscovered reaches of space.  Oh, to be like them!  Yes, they are the fearless ones, the bold ones, not afraid, or perhaps looking beyond their fears, sometimes facing the possibility of death itself for the joy of discovering new truths that will change the world.