Children are usually seen as little ones who have a lot to learn about life.
But there is a lot that we can learn from them about life that we've forgotten during the process of growing up and becoming adults.
In this post I’d like to talk about why leading our best life will require us to become more childlike.
To dream without limitations
Children have a vivid imagination. They are unafraid to dream big and never stop to doubt whether their dreams are attainable.
They naturally think outside the box because while they are young, they are yet to have gone through years of conditioning in limitation and left brain thinking by their schools, parents and society.
Albert Einstein considered by many to be one of the greatest scientists of all time once remarked that “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere."
Focussed imagination sets the power of the Law of Attraction in motion, and Walt Disney knew this all too well when he said: “if you can dream it, you can do it.”
After being drilled with logic and linear thinking throughout our school years, our ability to conceive what is possible starts to become increasingly limited. And as we grow up to be adults, this directly affects what many of us can do and achieve.
Find joy in the little things
Children can find joy and happiness in the littlest of things.
As we become adults, we are repeatedly marketed the notion that the way to a happy life is to be successful, wealthy and acquire material possessions.
But children innocent and naive, free from all this conditioning know better and do not assume or entertain such beliefs. It doesn’t take much for them to be happy.
They are great examples which convey that happiness need not be the result of doing or acquiring possessions, but it’s more a result of how we perceive the world around us.
To approach life playfully
It’s (almost) always refreshing to be around children because they approach life with the spirit of playfulness. They are quick to smile, easily amused and laugh at the silliest of things and tend to perceive things in a light-hearted manner.
You can see from the sparkle in their eyes that they are grateful to be alive and experience life and they don’t take things too seriously and get weighed down for too long.
Live in the present
Children don’t spend much time ruminating about the past or worrying about the future. They have simple and uncluttered minds which help them to live their lives focused on the present.
While they may be quick to cry or throw tantrums, they forgive and forget just as quickly and get on with their lives.
To be curious and keep asking questions
Children are curious about everything. They always ask a lot of questions and approach everything around them with a sense of wonder.
However, children being small and new to the world often have to depend upon adults for answers. Unfortunately by the time they are old enough to find the answers for themselves, they stop asking questions.
People don’t take too kindly to somebody who asks too many questions whether it’s parents or even teachers, and as a child grows up, he/she gets the message that asking too many questions is not welcome.
Hence it isn’t entirely surprising that as people grew older they tend to stop questioning things and become resigned to accept and follow everything based on what somebody else tells them. This can be their schools, society, parents, religion, culture or media and they fail to contemplate and inquire why they do or believe something.
However, there is tremendous power in asking questions and maintaining a sense of curiosity than what society tends to acknowledge.
Walter Issacson who wrote the biographies of Leonardo Da Vinci, Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs said that one of the main reasons why they were so successful was because of their tremendous curiosity and willingness to question conventional wisdom.
When we stop questioning things, we stop thinking for ourselves, and we lead a life of imitation based on conforming to society instead of making choices that resonate with our hearts.
While growing up and adulthood are an inevitable part of living, losing the qualities we all once possessed as children don’t have to be.
Letting go of always behaving like an adult and unabashedly adopting a more child-like approach to living then is one worth embracing to make our lives more fulfilling and enriching.
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Continue Reading : 18 Little Things That Can Make You Smile