5 reasons why you should act young at heart
When you look at a child, you can see that he is carefree and lives for the moment. They are present in everything they do and live each day as if it were the only day they have. So why do we as adults cause so much pain and anxiety in our lives? We have let go of that childish mindset and wonder that we used to enjoy. Not because we have to, but because we (somewhat unknowingly) chose to.
We create the stress, worry, and fear that our lives have become so full of 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 inside that wants to come out
4. Helps fight stress
5. Why should kids have all the fun? You also should!
Wouldn’t it be nice to live with the mentality of a child? Yes, we still have responsibilities, but if we can really learn to let go and live in the present moment, our lives would be so much more peaceful and enjoyable.
We have choices in life and we can choose to live in that place with all the adult emotions we’ve learned, or let go and be young at heart. This doesn’t mean letting go of adult responsibilities, it means letting your inner child come out and look at things from a different perspective.
I once read that billionaire Warren Buffet occasionally has a bowl of chocolate chip ice cream for breakfast. Talk about eating like a six year old! Who says we can’t have ice cream or cake for breakfast from time to time. I for one 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 uptight adults and from time to time we can do things that most adults would shake their heads. One day my fiancé and I were at the mall and they had a kiosk with oversized motorized animals for the kids to ride. We were feeling adventurous and asked the clerk if adults could ride. They told us we could, so we rented one. For 15 minutes, the two of us walked around the mall like two kids laughing and having the time of our lives. Yes, there were a couple of uptight adults who gave us disgusted looks, however, most people smiled and were glad to see us having fun. In fact, we saw two other young adult couples riding them when we handed ours over after they saw us riding. It was as if we had given them permission to let go as well.
We were living in the moment and that memory still makes us smile. We saw an opportunity to be young at heart and acted accordingly. We didn’t care what anyone else thought, we weren’t hurting anyone, and we were giving everyone else something to smile about. They took a couple of photos of us and I’m sure the photos were posted on social media that day for a laugh.
We also recently bought a couple 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 walked around the neighborhood a couple of times. Fortunately, we had a good balance and stayed pretty conservative, but nonetheless, we had fun and gave the kids memories they’ll never forget.
Put aside how you think you should act and do things that bring out 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 children, they will love it.
We all need more joy in our lives and what better way to do that than to get down to the basics of just “being” and letting that inner child within each of us come out and play.