When was the last time you drew a picture, searched through tide pools, or dangled from a rope swing? Chances are your daily grind doesn’t allow for such pleasantries. Somewhere between honking your horn at that ignorant pedestrian and grabbing your sixth coffee for the day before dashing to boot-camp you lost the ability to soak in the world around you. The sense of wonder gleaming in every child’s bright eyes.
With today’s stressed out, workaholic tendencies we must learn how to access the power of our presence. Our ability to live mindfully… like a three year old! I just have one simple question. What would you do if you didn’t have to be anywhere, do anything, and most importantly be somebody? Because when you do get the chance to be a kid again would you even know how?
I know… it’s surprisingly a tough question to answer. Shouldn’t be hard, but is. As I have found recently you won’t know until you experience it. Most of you will undoubtably say that of course it’s easy to be a kid. Play games, make jokes, have no responsibilities. A dream come true. But acting like a kid and seeing the world like one are entirely different concepts. Yes kicking a soccer ball around or playing flashlight tag will put you in an enthusiastic “kid like” mind frame, but how do we cultivate that blissful awe inspired wonderment at life? Similar to the mentality travelers get addicted too, it’s the ability to see the world with new eyes and awareness. Where you don’t forget about what needs to get done, but just have a more enjoyable ride.
Here are a few methods I use to get a glimpse of life way back when:
Drop Your Ego At The Door: What if you woke up and didn’t care what people thought of you? Honestly! Would you walk out into the day wearing a bikini and a pair of Uggs? I might…haha. One thing a young child doesn’t have is an ego. A lifetime of judgments, labeling, and negative experiences hasn’t warped their view of life and the planet. We just have to learn to let down our guard. To let go and dare to be ourselves in a society where everyone is trying with all their might to be somebody else. When you don’t care what other people think you open up a sea of endless possibilities. No longer held back by your own pride or fear. Free to create who you want to be.
One huge example of ego getting in the way of life’s potential is in the college graduate world. I can’t even count how many people my age are still holding onto their degree as if it’s all they will ever use. Their economics degree lingering over their head when secretly they dream in Treble and Base clef. They waste months and years stagnant. Wondering what their passions are and what will make them happy when it’s right under their nose. Too proud to admit that they spent $100,000 on an education they won’t use. Who cares? No one is going to look down on you for living your dreams. If they do then they don’t deserve to be in your life. Who’s life are you leading anyway?
2.) Really See: I’ll be writing more on this topic in the future, but here is a little taste. Part of the reason we can’t enjoy life is because we aren’t really seeing it. Pay attention the next time you are on a stroll through the park. What do your eyes skim over? Are you so busy thinking that your eyes glaze over? This is exactly how we get from point A to point B and don’t remember the trip.
Stop and stand perfectly still. Pick a point in the distance beyond the trees and just work on keeping your eyes still. What do you see? Slowly allow the foreground to come into vision without shifting the eyes. Feel your lungs expanding and contracting and your feet rooted to the ground. Focus so intently that the mind quiets. You’ll feel the shift of consciousness as a wave and all of a sudden the world will be brighter and more detailed. You might feel tingling through the body. This is energy and awareness coming alive. Smile. That is reality, not the glazed over counterpart.
I hope these methods aren’t too esoteric. They are concepts I have used for the last six months or so and have seen measurable shifts in my happiness and kid like tendencies. The next time you feel like a kid, hang onto that moment. That’s when you know you’ve found something powerful.
When was the last time you felt like a kid? What were you doing and what made you do it? Leave your answers in the comments. Maybe then we can all use your kid like moments to create more of them in our lives!
