Recently I was at my Taekwondo school, waiting for my class to begin.
While I was watching the class in progress, a little boy came up to me and showed me how he could do a full split. He smiled at his accomplishment, being five years old or so this pretty much came natural to him.
Then he asked me if I could do a split like that.
I laughed and said that I could not go down as far as he could, I lacked the flexibility. He didn't seem to understand this concept. He simply said, "I'll show you how" and then proceeded to effortlessly do the split again.
I told him that I was working, a little each day, to become more flexible and at this point he kinda shrugged his shoulders and went on to another topic.
When we are young, our bodies are incredibly flexible. It isn't until we get older that we begin to lose this. Practicing a martial art at my age only shows me just how much flexibility I have lost over the years.
But children are more than just physically flexible, they are also willing to learn and accept things without any preconceived notions.
"He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:2-4 (NIV)
How flexible are you?
