My realization

To my astonishment my son confronted me with, what I thought, was a trivial aspect of life.
A time out.
He spoke of great understanding for the usefulness of time outs and how they apply to both the five year old boy that he is as well as adults. I considered his abrupt conversation on time outs to be silly at first but once I considered the fact that he might be right I ask him why he thought adults should have time outs just as children do. His reply was so simple, so thoughtful, that I am obliged to think that he has been dwelling on this topic for sometime.
"Adults should have time outs because they forget, at times, how to treat the people around them with kindness and how be happy with what they have."
My heart almost came out of my chest, swelling with pride and awe. He grasped more then I did about the concept of thinking, giving yourself a moment to reflect, as well applying kindness and happiness to your life and the people in it. How and why he was thinking of this I do not know but I am forced to think that he is right, adults forget the meaning of kindness and happiness. I have forgotten to live with what I have, instead of what I want. My husband and I have always explained to our son that the things that he has are things that he has to make the best of but in contrast we are constantly pursuing new and unneeded items for little or no reason at all. Further more, our use of kindness towards others is forced most times instead of a naturally occurring aspect of our lives. Why? I don't know why, kindness is hard to express to some and to others I question why I should be kind at all. But to a child a person is a person, good or bad, and all should be treated kindly. The point he made about happiness was the hardest for me to grasp. I literally took a step back and focused on what we have. The air in our lungs, the people we love, food in our stomachs, a roof over our head. I think I could go on forever but I still don't know if that truly fulfills the concept of being happy with what you have. I think it's a much more organic, natural happiness. Two eyes, two arms, two legs, and even if you didn't have them knowing that life is what you make of it, happiness is controlled by yourself and no others.
I've put myself in a timeout to reflect on what and how happiness and kindness can be a larger, more apparent part of my life. I do not know if my son's revelation was something that he drew from my actions or someone else's but I do know that his eyes see what so many of ours don't; a simpler, more natural, happy life without judgement or want.