I saw a Norman Rockwell moment this morning as I dropped my youngest daughter off for school. I was waiting in the line of cars that were ready to leave the drop off zone and a car door opened in the car in front of me. Out popped a little boy, probably in kindergarten or 1st grade. He enthusiastically waved goodbye to his mom, and without hesitation blew her a kiss. He slammed the car door shut and raced into the school, his empty backpack bouncing from side to side. He was chattering to friends and he approached the door, and held it open for a couple of kids before he stepped inside. At the very last instant, before his face disappeared behind the door he turned and blew his mom another great big kiss.

It was a sweet moment.

As I was driving home, I began to wonder about when that enthusiasm wanes in our lives. I remember going to school and loving it. All the way through high school, and even into college I loved the thought of learning. Despite being a boy, I didn’t really mind sitting in school desks most of the day. Sure, I was fidgety, but not anything like many of my peers, or frankly, most of my kids. My Mom had instilled in me the belief that to learn, you had to sit still. In the very late 1960’s, through the 1970’s, into the 1980’s there wasn’t any talk of “kinetic learning”. The concept of open schools was just beginning to take hold, and it was huge news when my 4th grade involved changing classrooms. Up until that point we had stayed in a single classroom, in a single seat, throughout the day. We went to the bathroom at the same time. We learned the same subjects together. We lined up in one boy line and one girl line. It was just how school was done.

Despite the regimentation, I was perfectly happy. While many people who know me well would call me “relaxed”, few would call me a “free spirit”. I pretty much follow the rules, do what needs to be done, and generally don’t really stick out in a crowd. Those are all things that I learned in school. Do what you’re supposed to, when you’re supposed to, how you’re supposed to.

That little boy reminded me that learning is about a lot more than just following the rules though. It should be an adventure. Something to be enjoyed. Big grins, giggles, and even kisses to Mom at the very last second are not only acceptable…they’re a big part of the package.

So I’ve said a prayer for my youngest daughter today. She goes in the “big kid” door at her school, so she didn’t get to see that happy boy this morning. In fact, if she’d looked closely at her classmates’ faces she would have seen mirrors of what many of us look like. A group of kids who were resigned to “another day at the office” (or school in their case). Something to be endured until something better comes along. I could almost see the Apple 1984 commercial with the drone-like workers filing into the meeting hall, and honestly it saddened me.

Fortunately, my 6th grader isn’t like that. She’s a bundle of energy. She calls out to the other kids as they are trudging in, and despite carrying a full-sized trombone into school, with run to catch up with specific friends. She has retained an enthusiastic approach to school throughout the years. She’s bubbly and fun to be around. When she talks about what they did in school it’s sometimes about assignments, sometimes about what somebody did (good, bad, or indifferent), and it’s sometimes about something silly that happened. She talks a mile-a-minute, and I often have to struggle to keep up.

And that’s how it should be, not just in school, but in life. We ought to embrace life, including the challenges and the successes. We ought to find happiness in the most minuscule things. We should be the ones bringing laugher and joy into our homes, jobs, or wherever else we are.

There’s an enthusiasm for life that my 6th grader and that boy at the “little kid” door took into their school today. They were rays of sunshine in an otherwise plain landscape.

How about it…can you be a ray of sunshine today?