It's Good To Be 4!

Meet Vivian.

Photo taken by Sarah Gimbel

Vivian is the younger daughter of my friend Nicole, a Rabbinical student, and she just turned 4. As I see it, it's pretty darn good to be 4.

I had the privilege of tagging along on a recent outing with Nicole's family to Kef Tsuba - a bouncy house amusement park on Kibbutz Tsuba just outside of Jerusalem. I went to see what this place was like and because I figured there was little chance this journey would not be fun. There was almost nothing for someone taller than 4ft to do at this place. It was cool and if I was 7 or 4, as these Cassie and Viv, I would have had a blast bouncing, and going in the bumper cars, and playing in the 3 story jungle gym/maze. Rather, I had a blast watching these young girls do just that and offering some adult conversation to their parents.

After lunch, Vivian, whose 4th birthday was on this very day, fell asleep in her stroller and there she stayed, asleep until it was time to get in the cab back to the city. As she slept, without a care in the world, not worried by a single movement around her or concerned for who would watch over her belongings, it was clear to me just how good it is to be 4. I sometimes long to return to the days where I can have so little to care about in the world.

However, just as Vivian is a constantly showing us why it's good to be 4, she also shows us how it's sometimes hard to be 4. Vivian is a very determined child, she refuses to accept that she might not be able to do something - everything is possible, even when it's not. I admire this attitude and the perseverance and determination with which she faces new tasks. Sometimes it's good to be grown up. To be tall enough and strong enough and stable enough to do anything I want to do. I take these abilities for granted; I have not been aware of my strength. I have spent a lot of time treating myself as weak or incapable, but, as I'm discovering in yoga, I am doing myself a disservice. For the sake of all that Viv is still too little to do, but tries anyway, I need to embrace my power and acknowledge my strength. I need to respect the 4 year olds of the world and appreciate what I can do, because they really want to and can't.