Recently I attended a benefit that had a great country band called Braid with vocalist, Tracy Hood. They were playing a lot of upbeat country tunes that made you want to at least tap your feet. Early in the evening there weren’t any souls brave enough (or maybe inebriated enough) to get out on the floor and dance. As people started to loosen up, a few couples got out and started two-stepping. But in the middle of the dance floor the kids congregated and of course they were the ones that really livened things up. They were out there shaking it like nobody’s business. Not a care in the world, just moving to the music and enjoying being there. One little girl in particular stood out. She was sooooo cute with her pink cowgirl hat and matching boots. She was twisting and moving around like she didn’t have a care in the world. I loved her complete lack of inhibition. She didn’t care how she looked. She was just having a good time. At what age do we start worrying so much about how we are perceived? Kids don’t need a couple drinks to loosen up. Their innocence and purity that children is a natural high. It would be nice to be able to let go like that again. Later in the evening, I saw this cutie with her mom in the ladies room. I told her how adorable she was and her mom explained that this child was quite a few years younger than her others. Kind of a blessing/ surprise in her second marriage. She told me that she was so delighted that she was going to have another baby that she just giggled throughout the entire pregnancy and was convinced that this had a lot to do with her daughter’s happy disposition. I really do believe that there is truth to this. Our thoughts, feelings and actions can be contagious to those around us. So as the saying goes, “You’ve gotta’ dance like there’s nobody’s watching, Love like you’ll never be hurt, Sing like there’s nobody’s listening, and live like it’s heaven on earth.” Just ask the 4 year old little girl in the pink hat. She knows. by Kathryn C. Wheat