Most Adults Need To Learn To Be More Like Kids
And this is why
For the first 20 years of our lives, we get the kid beaten out of us.
It’s a sad massacre.
We learn to “grow up.”
Most adults are just kids in grown-up bodies.
But they’re kids in all the wrong ways.
The archetype
You probably know a person like this.
They’re emotionally immature. They throw adult tantrums. They let little things ruin their days.
These adults are exceptionally gifted at deflecting the blame onto other victims.
It seems like they’re a magnet for drama.
These people take themselves too seriously and aren’t playful at all.
Their goal is to constantly escape from the moment. It’s like they’re never present.
While they’re technically an adult, it’s like they reached a certain age and then just stopped living. They stopped learning. They stopped growing and embracing life for what it is.
The best qualities of children
As you can see, that person above acts like a child in only the wrong ways.
These are some of the qualities that they should try to emulate:
- Playfulness
- Creativity
- Freedom
- Presence
- Joy
If you need to learn more about these qualities, just walk around and pay attention.
Watch kids blow bubbles into the wind. Watch them playing on the playground. Watch them creatively play with toys for hours on end. Watch them run on the beach.
There’s a certain level of joy and presence in the moment that many of us lose as we age. And that’s a shame. If we could find more ways to get out of our heads and into the moment, we’d all be better off.
You’ll also see that at a certain age, kids don’t have shame. Society probably knocks shame into us over the years.
Toddlers don’t seem to get embarrassed. They do their own thing. It’s not like they know any better.
A better adult
Let’s flip the script.
A person could have the executive function of an adult paired with the playfulness and carefree nature of a child.
Now that’s an incredible person.
We need plenty of instincts that only come when we enter adulthood. But we shouldn’t become so trapped by them.
Combine the best parts of being an adult with the best parts of being a kid.
There’s magic in that.
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