5 reasons why you should act young at heart
When you look at a child, you can see that they are carefree and live in the moment. They are present in everything they do and they live each day as if it were the only day they have. So why, as adults, do we cause so much pain and anxiety in our lives? We have put aside that wonder and that childish mentality that we used to enjoy. Not because we have to, but because (unknowingly) we choose to do it.
We create the stress, worry and fear that our lives have become so full every day. Here are five reasons why you should be young at heart:
1. It makes you feel younger
2. It gives you and others permission to have fun.
3. We all have a child within us who wants to get out
4. Helps overcome stress
5. Why should children have fun? You also should!
Wouldn’t it be nice to live with the mindset of a child? Yes, we still have responsibilities, but if we can truly learn to let go and live in the present moment, our lives would be much more peaceful and enjoyable.
We have options in life and we can choose to live in that place with all the adult emotions that we have learned, or to let go and be young at heart. This does not mean letting go of adult responsibilities, it means letting the child within you come out and look at things from a different perspective.
I once read that billionaire Warren Buffet eats a bowl of chocolate chip ice cream for breakfast every now and then. Talk about eating like a six year old! Who says we can’t have ice cream or cake for breakfast once in a while? For my part, I love a bowl of Lucky Charms or Captain Crunch cereal every now and then! It brings out the child in all of us and makes us happy too!
We don’t have to be congested adults and from time to time we can do things that most adults would shake their heads. My fiance and I were at the mall one day and they had a large motorized animal kiosk for the kids to ride. We were feeling adventurous and asked the clerk if adults could travel. They told us we could, so we rented one. For 15 minutes, the two of us walked the mall like two children laughing and having the time of our lives. Yes, there were a couple of congested adults who looked at us in disgust, however, most of the people smiled and were happy to see us having fun. In fact, we saw two other young adult couples riding them when we were delivering ours after they had seen us riding. It was as if we gave them permission to let go as well.
We were living in the moment and that memory still makes us smile. We saw the opportunity to be young at heart and acted on it. We didn’t care what other people thought, we weren’t hurting anyone and we gave other people something to smile about. They took a couple of photos of us and I’m sure the photos appeared on social media that day for a laugh.
We recently also bought a pair of skateboards for the two of us. We were with our two youngest children, ages 10 and 12. They thought it was for the best, since they both also have boards. We went out into the neighborhood and toured the neighborhood a couple of times. Fortunately, we had a good balance and remained fairly conservative, but through it all, we had fun and gave the children memories they will never forget.
Put aside the way you think you should act and do things that highlight the child in you. Eat ice cream, wear bunny ears, put on a princess crown, play in the arcade, and blow bubbles. Give yourself permission to have fun and bring out the child in you. If you have kids, they will love it.
We all need more joy in our lives and what better way to do that than to go to the basics of just “being” and letting that inner child within each of us come out and play!