SP n.9 - How to feel like a kid again
Learn to see the world with different eyes
You are four years old.
You are in kindergarten.
Your mom just bought you a new Dragon Ball sweatshirt.
You are playing on a plastic slide with your friends.
You are happy, and nothing else matters.
You don't think about the past. After all, you haven't done much in your first four years of life.
You don't think about the future.
You don't think about what the other kids are thinking.
You're just thinking about sliding down with your arms held high, touching the sky.
Nice, isn't it?
Hello, little friend, and welcome to this ninth episode of Summer Posts.
Today we’re going to discuss these topics:
Our adult life
What happens to us every day. I mean, every single day.
What we lost during our growth
We lost many of our qualities and emotions which were essential during our childhood
Leave your phone in another room
How to feel like a child again cutting off things we didn’t have
Some Key Questions
Our adult life
Let's be honest. At least once in our lives (or rather, at least once a day), we get overwhelmed by anxiety. By the thought of suffocating under all the responsibilities tied to our lives, our choices and our decisions.
“Did I make this right?” “Did I understand what I need to do?” “Do I know how to do it?” “Yes?” “No?” “Oh God, I don't know it anymore.”
Things like that.
We start thinking and thinking about the past or the future. We wonder if the choices we made were the right ones and if they'll take us where we want to go. So, we spend a lot of time worrying about things that, 99% of the cases, we can’t control.
Even if I thought now about a decision made last year, I couldn't change it. It is what it is.
Then we see a child playing on the street, and one of these two thoughts comes to mind:
“Look how happy he is. How I wish I could be a child again.”
“Look how happy he is. He has no idea what's coming in fifteen years. The real world. And then he won't be so happy.”
Now tell me if I'm wrong.
Leaving aside the second option, what would it mean to be a child again?
What we lost during our growth
First of all, what did we have as children that we lack today? And, on the contrary, what do we have today that we didn't have as children?
This is just the first step to start seeing the world with different eyes. Which doesn't mean escaping reality, but seeing everything around us with the eyes of a child.
So, what did we have as children that we don't have today? Well, growing up we lose many of our qualities and emotions, and replace them with other things that, in the long run, wear us out from the inside.
The qualities that were an essential part of our personality as children reduce with age, and often we don't even notice.
The first thing is that we lose our lack of judgment. As children, we play with everyone. We don't care about our friends' gender, skin colour, religion, family background, or different culture. Just look me in the eyes, and I'll smile at you anyway.
Growing up, this is one of the first qualities we lose. Or rather, one of the first that gets shaped by the environment we live in.
If our parents and teachers are tolerant, so will we. On the other hand, if we live in a home hostile to anything different from us, we will live that way in our adult life as well.
Regarding judgment, as children we don't care how others see us. We don't care at all what another child might think. At least, until we start understanding something by going to school.
For this reason, we should return to a child's mentality: I don't care what you think of me, I just want to play with my fucking Legos!
Okay, maybe as kids we didn't talk like that. But that's the point.
Along the way, we also lose many other qualities that were very important as children. Wonder and curiosity leave us. We no longer marvel at discovering something new. We are no longer curious about how that new thing works. We believe we already know everything, and our expression doesn't change at all when we see water in our freezer turning into ice.
Our creativity and imagination also leave us as we grow up. We can no longer imagine something new, a better world. And, as a consequence, we settle for what we already have, even if we don't like it at all.
Growing up, we lose many qualities that would be very useful as adults to overcome life's obstacles. Curiosity and wonder allow us to always look at the world with different eyes, uncovering what we don't know and learning how our unexplored world works.
Creativity allows us to challenge ourselves. To create something from scratch, which has benefits both personally and professionally. To invent things never thought of before, creating businesses, products, relationships, and loves. It helps us solve our problems more easily and efficiently, instead of accepting the problems and wallowing in them.
When a child sees an obstacle in the park, he tries to jump over it. An adult, on the other hand, will sit on it and rest for a while.
Leave your phone in another room
What do we have today that we didn't have as children?
Most common answer: screens.
I, you, and anyone reading this post will agree that our generation was the last to have a childhood free from screens. Fortunately, we didn't have a screen in our hands from our earliest years of life. Now, however, many parents give their three- or four-year-old kids their phones to play with to keep them quiet.
Sure, once or twice won't have much impact. But if this behaviour becomes habitual, children will become zombies addicted to these screens from their earliest years of life.
So, by removing this big category of objects from our daily lives, we could feel like children again. Like we were as children, not the children of today.
But be careful: I'm not saying to throw the computer you work with into the trash. But we could not use our phones for four, five, or even six hours a day scrolling on TikTok.
When you feel bored and have the urge to turn on your phone to spend hours on social media, try to answer this question: what would I do if I were five years old again? Surely, I'd be outdoors. I'd go to the park near my house to play and spend time. I'd go to the pool down the street to swim a bit. I'd "go out" with my friends. I'd explore the world around me.
Also, whether you're twenty, thirty, or forty years old, you certainly no longer need your parents to watch over you to go to the park. You can move as you wish and independently. You can literally go wherever you want in your free time. You can do whatever you want. And the best thing you can think of is to open TikTok and scroll with your finger.
A simple challenge: try not to open Instagram or TikTok for an entire week. Seven days, no clicks on those icons. You’ll thank me.
Some Key Questions
What do you think you lost while growing up?
What do you think you changed during your growth that made you better/worse?
What would you do if you were five years old again?
I'd say life has much more to offer. But if we constantly wear blinders for many hours a day, how can we see and catch our opportunities?
Our lives will always have serious and difficult moments. But at least when we are free, let's regain some of our childhood innocence and truly live.
So, the next time you see a child playing, let it remind you of the beauty of childhood and simplicity. Try to live with the same lightness and carefree attitude, and you'll discover a new world.
- Rick