Are you open today to receive a heartwarming reminder of what matters most?
Allow me to share this article written by my friend, Liberty:
I love children. They’re just too cool. They know what we “Grown-Up People” have forgotten. They know what’s important and we can learn a lot from them— if we so choose.
There’s nothing quite like watching the wheels turning in an intelligent young mind that is curious and soaking up a load of new information. I love seeing those bright eyes so focused — just like lasers as they watch and learn.
I love the way children bubble over with enthusiasm. Some are like a pot of homemade soup that’s a little too full, boiling and rolling with big, bloody bubbles of chunky vegetables and fresh herbs that spill over and sizzle on the hob.
Others are effervescent… bright, quick, sparkling, fizzing over the top like the finest champagne.
Naturally, children love to play, and we spend a good deal of time teaching them not to do it. Sit down. Be quiet. Do your chores. Do your homework. Make your bed. Mow the lawn. Don’t be silly. Mind your manners. Settle down. Shhhhhhh!
We teach them to work hard. To be ambitious. To get ahead. To “make something of themselves,” as if they are nothing in the first place.
The truth is that they are pure and perfect at the start, but we knock it out of them (with some help from Life) and turn them into joyless, responsible adults who’ve forgotten how to dream, how to share, how to remember that it’s not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game.
I love watching “Junior Masterchef Australia”
Year after year, I’ve been astonished by children as young as eight who cook dishes I can’t even pronounce. They use ingredients that are entirely foreign to me and plate up dishes that look like they are being served in 5-star restaurants.
As if all of that is not enough of a treat, it is extra wonderful to witness some deeply moving attitudes and behaviors in the children — attitudes that are sadly lacking in many adults in the same circumstances.
For example, on both versions of the show, the winner of an individual challenge becomes one of the captains in an upcoming team challenge. That captain gets to choose the captain for the opposing team.
The losing team will face an elimination challenge that sends at least one person home.
In the adult version of the show, the captain’s choice for the opposing team is usually based on who it is thought will make a poor job of it in hopes of that team losing and facing the elimination challenge.
Another benefit of being captain is they get to choose their teams. In the adult Masterchef shows, usually, this decision is based on who are the strongest contestants — even if the captains don’t necessarily like them — because they want to stay in the competition in hopes of winning the title of Australia’s next Masterchef, the $250,000 and the cookbook deal.
But on Junior Masterchef, it’s another story. The kids choose their friends to be the other team captains because they see it as a big treat; they’re bestowing honor on their pals.
And they choose their friends to be on their teams. There’s no strategy; it’s just what kids do.
Team Challenges: Shocking Differences
While the adults are deep into team challenges and frantically cooking like maniacs, members from one team look nervously over at everyone on the other one to figure out which team is in the lead.
They’re panicking, stressing, freaking out, worried, constantly blathering on about how they cannot lose this challenge because they don’t want to face elimination.
And I can assure you, they don’t look like they’re having any fun at all.
But the kids’ team challenges usually involve the teams rooting for each other and at times even assisting the opposing team if it’s falling behind because — in the words of one young man who was jumping in to help the other team — “We don’t want our customers to be disappointed.”
It doesn’t matter that they might be helping the other team win; they jump in for the greater good and do the right thing and they do it without a moment’s hesitation.
And the kids are definitely having an awful lot of fun.
When the judges praise the adults’ dishes, some of the other contestants often look jealous or worried. They plaster on fake smiles, gritting their teeth while clapping with all the enthusiasm of a bunch of writhing fish dangling from the hooks in their faces.
Yet when the judges praise the children’s dishes, the other kids light up. They are beaming and applauding from their joyful hearts. They are delighted for their friends and hug each other, saying, “You did a great job!” and obviously meaning every little bit of their excitement and pure affection.
Selfish Tantrums vs. Joyful Cheers
When the adults get eliminated, many of them are terribly upset. Some are even quite angry. Of course, they don’t want to go home and they’re deeply disappointed.
But it is a competition, after all, and they know “going in” that the odds are not stacked in their favor.
These deeply angry and upset responses are especially evident in those eliminated near the end of the competition. Understandably, they are disappointed; I have no issue with that, of course.
It’s just that it’s always uncomfortable to watch the ones who take it to an extreme. They might try to choke down what they feel, but it is written clearly on their pained faces.
And when they are back just days later to watch the two finalists compete, you can still see not only the disappointment but the anger and the jealousy. Sometimes all they can offer the finalists are fake smiles and false encouragement.
When the children are eliminated, some of them cry, of course; they’re just kids, and they’ve been having fun with lots of new friends and having a once-in-a-lifetime experience that has just ended. It’s like suddenly being told you have to leave Disneyland ahead of schedule.
But many smile and say, “Out of thousands of kids who applied, I can’t believe I got this far! I’m really proud/happy/excited about that!” They are just genuinely happy for getting as far as they did. And they are genuinely happy for the contestants who were still in the competition.
In every finale I’ve seen, they are still beaming and thrilled for their friends who have earned the trophy, and they don’t seem at all bothered that they lost out on several thousand dollars in a trust fund and the title of Junior Masterchef.
Disproportionate Desperation
This one drives me absolutely nuts. Obviously, people will enter with the hope of winning. Nothing wrong there.
It’s a question of degree — and perspective. Many adults are all about fame, title, money, and winning as if their lives depend on all of that. I hear them going on desperately about this being “their only chance” to open a restaurant or pursue their food dreams.
Well, how did all the other restaurants in the world happen? How did McDonald’s get started — and become so famous? Did everyone have to win a national competition that would give them some start-up money?
Ummm, I don’t think so.
The kids on Junior Masterchef are happy to see the others succeed, and they understand that “It’s not about whether you win or lose, it’s about how you play the game.”
They know it’s supposed to be about fun. It’s about having a cool experience, about learning, and about supporting each other. It’s about enjoying the ride and not worrying about the destination.
Yup. You can learn a lot from children.
This article has been reprinted with permission from Angel RIBO’s LinkedIn page.