Through the Eyes of a Child

What would I give right now to view life through the eyes of a child? How would it feel to not have to carry the burden of responsibility and just “be”? It sounds absolutely heavenly! Can you imagine not being influenced or governed by the judgement of others’ words or actions, or even be concerned by it? Are you able to visualize just being present, seeing the negative as a positive; seeing the glass half full; taking others as they are; not overthinking; enjoying all the little things even more than the big ones, showing emotions without fear of judgement? How beautiful would it be to love like children do, with their hearts and rose coloured contact lenses on all the time because they see the beauty in everything and everyone? How different would the world look and behave?

I’ve been wondering lately at what point do we transform into these serious beings that don’t take day to day life or people at face value, that tend to be overly risk averse to the point that there’s no fun in even the simplest activities? Why does becoming a mature adult mean we have to change our outlook, our perspective and most often, our whole persona? Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not implying that we spend our day in the sandpit or running around playing hide and seek. But it truly feels like we’ve become so fixated on life, careers and relationships that we lose our sense of fun, our simplicity and spontaneity. Surely we can still enjoy carefree moments, thoughts and experiences without stress, anxiety and over-complicating things. I realize I may be generalizing here and many people haven’t shed all their “child-like” behaviour and still have fun, but I seriously believe that we need to maintain that innocence, that “goodness” and playfulness, without losing our “adult-ness” at the same time.

Is it possible to keep the better side of childhood – minus the tantrums and love of chaos (although I will admit that I still have those tendencies!) Why can’t being mature adults also be synonymous with seeing every day as a new opportunity for having fun, and not feeling overwhelmed 24/7 to the point that we’re too exhausted to enjoy some downtime? Why does there seem to be an unwritten law that dictates that we have to trade in one for the other, that both cannot exist in the one being or that they’re essentially mutually exclusive?

Of course being prepared and responsible is necessary, but being overly cautious means less fun. I’m not saying we have to be careless and ignore the risks but I am suggesting that sometimes it pays to take a small risk and throw caution to the wind. It’s ok to just be here and not stress about tomorrow. It’s ok to have fun for fun’s sake and still take care of your responsibilities.

Hmmm, but is this doable? I say why not. What do you think? Or do you already nurture both your childhood and adult tendencies yourself?