“Grow up, you’re an adult”.
How many times have you heard that?
One too many, I’m sure.
I know people mean well when they say it and society influences us through programming our minds that we must grow up.
As adults, I understand that there are responsibilities and duties that we must fulfill.
If you have a family, it is your “grown up” duty to earn a living in order to put food on the table for your children, provide clothing, a roof over your children’s head, pay rent, pay bills, pay taxes, change your baby’s diapers, clean the house, wash the dishes, throw out the garbage, take your care for a repair, etc.
Aside from that, I am of the belief that we should embrace our childlike wonder, our passions as a child, our interests as a child, and view the world from the lens of a child.
Why?
Well, for one, children are not jaded like you and I.
They have not seen many failures and ugly sides of many things.
They have no limiting beliefs or limitations in their mind of what can or can’t be done.
They are massive action takers.
They are risk takers.
They are experimenters.
And they truly, in the depths of their soul, believe that anything is possible.
This is why I embrace the child within me.
Too often in life, we think and make decisions with our logical brain.
However, what I’ve found is that listening to my intuition and the inner child within me almost always steers me in the right direction.
It’s a visceral, gut feeling. You know, that voice that tells you, “hey this does not “feel” right.” or “hey, this sounds freaking amazing. Let’s give it a shot.” That voice.
Also, in Buddhism we have a belief that “desire is the roof of all suffering.”
However, Sadh Guru, says, “unfulfilled desire is the cause of all suffering.”
Lately, I’ve been pondering this thought and have come to find some truth in it.
As a child, we have lots of dreams, wishes and desires. However, when we grow up, we have been so conditioned, taught and programmed from a young age that we must go to college, get a good job, start a family, buy a house, work at the same job for 40 years, retire and die.
But, many of us have realized that this is the belief and system brought upon us by an older generation from the industrial age and is not a one size fits all, blueprint for everyone.
As humans, we are all different. No two people are alike as well all have different interests, passions, likes, dislikes, talents, strengths, etc.
It is this very reason why sitting in silence and connecting and listening to our inner child is what will allow us to find what it is we truly want to do in life.
As I believe, life really has no meaning, except the meaning we give it. So, in that vain, why not do what we’ve always wanted to do ever since we were kids.
No matter how crazy, wild and impossible it may seem.
Go for it.
Now I understand some of us may have actually “grown” out of some of those dreams. But stay true to the dreams you still have for when you were a child and double down on them.
You will be amazed at what you find.
