No Fair

Josh Harrisking
October 22, 2012

Josh Harrisking

Lives in: Seattle, Washington
From: Des Plaines, Illinois
Web: http://www.stinkycheesedad.com
Facebook: 823883834

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Both my kids are avid collectors of everything.  They have a collection of fruit snack wrappers.  They have several collections of rocks.  Feathers, leaves, sticks, pine cones, beach glass…you name it, they have collected it for at least 5 minutes.

Every hike or trip to a park begins a new collection expedition.  We walk along, and as we go, things catch their eye.  I’ve ended up with a coat full of rocks before without realizing until it was to late.

Recently, we went on a hike, something we do pretty regularly.  As we walked, the kids were collecting fall leaves.  My daughter held tightly onto her prized leaf, it was bigger then her head, and the stem was as long as her arm.

My son just kept grabbing things.  He had 4 leaves (by his count 10, but if you count the same items multiple times, you can convince yourself of anything), a rock, and a small stick.  He carried them all himself, for most of the hike.

As we were approaching the last leg of the journey, my daughter all of a sudden saw all that her little brother was carrying.

“Hey, no fair!  He has more than me!”

She had been perfectly happy with her one prized leaf find, until she looked around and saw that someone else had MORE.

How often do we all do that?  We can walk through most of our lives not caring about things, and then suddenly when someone else has it, or when it becomes a way to fit in, we suddenly NEED things.  More is not better, it’s just more.

My daughter quickly sought to rectify the problem, she swooped up several of the leaves she saw in the direct vicinity, and set on her way, confident that she had kept up with the Jones’.

By the time we reached the car to head home, my son still had his 10 leaves (4 sir)…his 4 leaves, and his rock.  My daughter had already discarded most of the leaves she had picked up.  Only 1 leaf made it into the car…

The one she had carried the whole time.

It’s not about the amount of things or friends in life, or even the leaves.  It’s finding the right ones.  You’ll know when you have the right one, you’ll happily carry it along with you for a whole hike, and you won’t notice the others around you.

Just remember, when you look up and notice someone else has more, ignore them, and revel in the fact that you found the right one.

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