How to Grow Up to Become Like a Child

Rediscover your inner child and find joy in life again

When I grow up, I want to be just like my 7-year-old daughter. She’s happy, full of joy and wonder, and she sees the world as a place filled with infinite possibilities.

As I watch her play every day and explore the world around her without a care, I’m reminded of my childhood, when everything was fun and exciting and anything seemed possible. Somewhere along the way, I lost touch with that fun and exciting part of myself.

I became an adult.

I grew up and became jaded and cynical. I stopped believing in the magic of life. I’m always too tired to be fun.

But as I look at my daughter enjoying her life, I miss the child that I used to be. I miss who I was before the world got to me.

I want that little girl back.

As we grow older, we lose the sense of wonder and joy that we had as children. We become too tired, too skeptical, and less open to new experiences.

I realize that it’s never too late to rediscover and connect with my inner child.

There are three qualities that I observe in my daughter that I believe can help me connect with my inner child and become more childlike, just like her:

1. Curiosity

Curiosity kills the cat, but my daughter gets away with it. She is curious about everything. She’s curious about herself and the world around her. She asks a thousand questions and then at night when I tuck her in; she asks one more question. Her nighttime questions are always so deep it makes me wonder, too.

My daughter realizes she knows nothing at all and wants to learn something every day. She wants to know everything and understand what she doesn’t.

I used to be just like that when I was a child. I asked a thousand and one questions. Now that I’m older, I want to embrace life with the same sense of wonder and curiosity that my daughter does, and as I did when I was a child.

Children are naturally curious. They ask many questions, explore their environment, and seek out new experiences, but as we grow older, we become set in our ways and less open to new ideas.

One way to cultivate curiosity is to ask questions and question everything. Instead of assuming that we know everything, we can approach life with a sense of curiosity and a desire to learn. We can ask questions of ourselves, of others, and of the world around us.

By cultivating this spirit of curiosity, we can rediscover the sense of wonder and exploration we had as children.

2. Excitement

Look at her. My daughter is a happy kid. Happiness is her default state. I wake up in the morning often with this sense of dread, wondering if the day will be any different. She wakes up in the morning with the biggest smile on her face, excited, as if something amazing is going to happen.

I really want to learn that.

I want to be excited about my life.

My daughter is playful and creative. I still have my creativity but the playfulness, not too much. I’ve become too serious for my own liking.

Children are naturally excited about life. They find joy in small things, such as playing with a toy or exploring a new place. They are creative and approach the world with a sense of playfulness and wonder.

There are many things to be excited about as a child, but as we grow older, we are often less easily impressed.

We’ve seen it all before.

I want to tap into that same spirit of playfulness as my daughter and find ways to infuse my life with more fun and excitement. This means more yes’s to ‘play pretends’ and Saturday mornings playing with the LOL dolls. It also means putting on our matching raincoats and rain boots and playing in the rain when it pours, and also singing and dancing and jumping on the bed more often.

One way to cultivate excitement is to focus on the positive aspects of life. Instead of dwelling on our problems and challenges, we can focus on the things that bring us joy and happiness. By cultivating excitement, we can rediscover the joy and enthusiasm of life.

By doing so, we can cultivate a sense of gratitude and positivity that can help us approach life with more excitement.

3. Faith

When my daughter asks for something, she does not worry whether she will get what she asked for. She knows with a certain certainty that she will get it.

She has faith.

I do not have the kind of faith she does.

I ask for things and then worry whether I will get what I ask for. Most of the time, I don’t get it because of my little faith.

It is my daughter’s faith that gets her all the fun things she asks for. She trusts that all her needs will be met, no matter what. Every princess dress and every sparkly shoe she asked for, she went about her life knowing it would come.

And it came.

Children have faith and trust. They have a sense of openness to the world around them. They approach new experiences with trust and without preconceived notions or prejudices. They believe that things will work out in the end, even if they don’t understand how.

As we grow older, we become less trusting and we worry too much. Then we try to control outcomes only to create a resistance that pushes the thing we ask for farther away from us.

To cultivate trust is to let go of our need for control. Instead of trying to control every aspect of our lives, we can approach life with a sense of trust and surrender. We can trust that things will work out in the end, even if we don’t know how.

I’m learning every day to focus on the bigger picture. Instead of getting bogged down in the details of my many problems and challenges, I take a step back and look at the larger context of my life. I can have faith that things will work out in the end and trust that there is a bigger plan at work, even when things seem uncertain or scary.

My daughter also doesn’t worry too much about what doesn’t come; she’s too busy enjoying what’s right in front of her and she has many good things scattered all over her bedroom floor.

I want to adopt that same attitude of gratitude and learn to appreciate what I have in front of me. Now that I think about it, it is many good things. Like my super cool daughter.

My daughter is cool. I hope to be just like her when I grow up. I want to rediscover and reconnect with my inner child and embrace life with a sense of joy and wonder. That’s the way to feel like a child again. It’s the way to become like a child as you grow up.

Starting today, I will cultivate a sense of gratitude for the things I already have in my life. I will trust that all my needs will be met. I will approach life with a sense of openness and curiosity.

Becoming child-like when the world has already gotten to me and hardened me won’t be easy, but I believe that with a little effort and the right mindset, anything is possible.

By cultivating curiosity, excitement, faith, and trust, I can tap into my inner child and rediscover the joy and wonder of life.

I can’t wait to see what adventures await me as I join my daughter in her adventures and the places I go as I grow up to become a child.

Why not give it a try too?

Let’s rediscover and reconnect with our inner child and see where it takes us.

Who knows?

It just might get us into Heaven.

He called a little child to him and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” — Matthew 18:2–3.