Lessons learned from children

We have two young children that live next door. They're both very friendly to David and I, and love to play with Allie across the fence. Tonight my friend Laurel and her two kids came over for dinner and we spent some time outside. The instant the neighbor kids saw Will and Megan in our back yard they dropped what they were doing and were at the fence making new friends, inviting Will over to play and asking if they could come over and play. I really enjoyed watching this unfold, all the while wondering when exactly it is that we (adults) lose that quality. It made no difference that these children had never seen each other before; they just knew they had their age in common so they figured it would be fun to play together. I wish I could be more like that, and why in the world am I not? As I approach this move to Minnesota I think about all of the new relationships that I'll be starting and the new friends that I'll be making. To be very honest, it stresses me out a little. It's a lot easier to just be content with the relationships and friends that I already have. Unfortunately, they're not all moving to Minnesota with me, so I'm going to have to branch out and start all over again. I hope that I can learn from the kids next door and approach meeting new people with the fearless positive attitude that they had tonight.