Everyone in their lifetime has played Peek-A-Boo. It has to be so. You know what I’m talking about. It’s the game of amusing yourself and at least one other person by randomly covering and uncovering your face and eyes. The other person is usually three years of age or less. There’s no age limit, but at some point, the mystery of the disappearing person behind the moving hands is solved and no longer funny. I love to play this game with random babies in restaurants. Kids seem to dig me, especially from afar.
Here’s the question: At what point is the game of Peek-A-Boo the most fun? I submit the highlight of the game is the uncovering of the face and eyes. No one seems to giggle or smile when the eyes are covered. There’s nothing funny about that. It’s the surprise and sudden re-emergence of the face and eyes that makes us giggle, not the hidden face.
This morning, I caught myself in the middle of a rant about everything I didn’t like going on in my world and the world around me. At the low point of my rant, I actually complained that I was going to have to attend two of my daughter’s basketball games on consecutive days. I didn’t like it because it was going to interfere with work. [NOTE: How stupid is that? It won’t be long until the attendance of her games will be nothing more than memories. I’d better wake up and smell the flowers.]
In case you’re wondering, I didn’t aim the rant at anyone particular. The only ones that could hear me were Patti, the dog, and the television. I know Patti and the dog heard me, but I can tell you the television wasn’t listening. [If it was, it would run the cancellations and delays for weather across the bottom of the screen even when commercials are on. That way, I wouldn’t have to change the channel to find them.]
As I got ready to leave for work, I went over and kissed Patti and told her that, notwithstanding the last 15-minute diatribe, she made me happy. I went out, got in the car, and reflected back on my rant as I drove to work.
What I realized (remembered, is a better word) was that I was simply looking for the bad and ignoring all that is good in my life and the world. Ultimately, I was playing Peek-A-Boo with my happiness. In the same way that the uncovering of the face and eyes is the best part of the game for both you and those around you, looking at what’s good makes life better for you and those around you. I was covering my eyes and not seeing the good. That’s something I need to work on.
The year is now 1/24 over with, and it doesn’t seem like I’ve accomplished much. I find that a little disconcerting. What I need to do is open up my hands and smile at the world. If I don’t think that the world is smiling brightly enough back at me, I will stare at it until it does.
Happiness is easier to find when you look for it. Maybe we just need to open our hands up a little more often and really look around. We’ll be surprised at what we find. That’s true for everyone, especially those of us way up in the CHEAP SEATS!
Bill James is a co-founder of the James Law Firm with offices in Little Rock, Conway and Fayetteville, Arkansas. His primary area of practice is criminal defense. He can be contacted at Bill@JamesFirm.com