The joy of being childlike – Rediscovering happiness in the world

Find Happiness By Being Childlike

Remember when you were a child, and you saw everything with fresh eyes? When did you first see a huge lake, and imagined it was the sea? Or when you tasted a new food for the first time, spending time savoring the new flavor and textures?

Being a child is a constant adventure. Around every corner there are wonders waiting to be discovered. When we are young we learn constantly, finding new things, shaping our likes and dislikes and working out who we are and what we might become in the future. Our lives spread out before us with limitless possibilities, and we understand fundamentally that we can do, or be, anything we set our minds to. Choosing happiness around every corner.

As a child, we don’t often use words like ‘I can’t’. We focus on words like ‘Why’,’ how come’ or ‘Yes’ or ‘Please?’ Constantly seeking out new experiences and trying new things. We don’t fully understand our own limitations, and this sends us on journeys where we push our own boundaries, testing our capabilities and bettering ourselves. If we don’t understand something, we don’t accept it but work harder to try and get to the bottom of it. Kids are little sponges, constantly trying to make sense of their world and piece it all together in some kind of order.

The problem is, at some point this zest for learning, discovering and enjoying ourselves gets diminished. We grow older, and understand that we need to pay bills and be responsible, pass tests and clean the house. We strive to be older than our years, embracing maturity at the expense of our happiness.

And then when we hit a certain age, we long to be younger!

The argument is; we need to try to be happy with whatever age we’re at.  Another theory could be that we need to really try and recapture that childlike amazement and rediscover everything that is beautiful within our world. One of the secrets to happiness is having the ability to look around us with a sense of wonder at just how incredible our world is. When we see a field of flowers, or read an uplifting book, perhaps we need to remind ourselves to take a moment to appreciate it.

Another thing which makes people happy is capturing the unselfconscious joy that childhood has. Catching bugs in jars, jumping in puddles, climbing trees and treating ourselves to dessert bigger than our own heads can all give us that sense of mischievous fun again!

Adults find humor in different places then children. We laugh at puns and clever jokes, and yet – who hasn’t secretly wanted to roll about on the floor in hysterics because someone just tripped up, or jumped when a dog barked at them, or accidentally spilled coffee down their top? These things are funny because it reminds us that we were all children once, with all the bumps and bruises and mishaps that go with that fabulous age.

I’m advocating growing old disgracefully, in this article. I want you to take some time out today to capture the essence of childhood and see what happens. Hide in a cupboard and jump out at someone, laugh until you cry, try running down the street as fast as you can just to feel the wind in your hair and the exhilaration of feeling free. I dare you! Let me know how it goes…

To your fun today; be a child again!

Debbie