What Kids Know About Happiness That Could Change Your Life
I have to admit something… As a child, recess was never really my favorite “class.” I’ve always loved learning and would sometimes feel disappointed to have that flow be interrupted by recess. As a kid, instead of swinging across monkey bars, I have memories of sitting on the school stairs that led out to the courtyard with a group of friends where we would teach ourselves sign language. I still remember the alphabet, but that’s about it!
Nevertheless, now in my adult life, I’m finding the need for a recess. I’ve been noticing the symptoms of a major burnout approaching. I sat down, grabbed a pen, and reached for my journal, as I usually do when something isn’t quite right.
What was I missing in my life? The answer came to me pretty quickly. Recess. Almost the totality of my “to-do” list is filled with things I have to do for others. I was missing even simple things that made me happy in my daily life. I desperately needed a recess!
You should like your life!
“I just don’t have the time!” How many times have you heard people say this? I know I’m more than guilty of repeating this one. With all the many responsibilities and tasks we have to complete each day, it’s sometimes hard to imagine how we can fit in even a little bit of time just for ourselves! Still, I’ve found that for me, it’s non-negotiable.
What is the point of completing all the chores if I don’t even like my life? What a sad realization that one was! We should feel joy, have frequent belly-laughs, and incorporate play into our daily lives. It can feel easy to have our vision clouded by our duties, but we mustn’t let it be this way. It’s not a kind thing to do to ourselves. I hope to one day be a very old lady who tells the tales of how her life was filled with giggles, adventure, and goofiness!
Find your joy again
It doesn’t matter what you choose to do, as long as it brings you joy and doesn’t tick off a box on your to-do list. It’s recess! This time spent should be filled with something that might even seem useless to others. Look at kids! They aren’t concerned with impressing or being eloquent when creating and playing. They create because it brings them delight. This is just one of the many ways adults can learn from children. If you need help finding what you can do for your time off, you can even look to your child self for help. What did you like to play with as a kid? What hobbies did you abandon as a teenager that you’ve been wanting to get back to?
For me, I’m still just as fascinated by languages as I was as a child. Though I’m no longer learning sign language with friends on the schoolyard stairs, I now make it a point to study my target languages every day. It isn’t an obligation someone else has given me. There is no time limit on when I need to learn a set amount of words. It’s solely something that I want to do because it adds happiness to my life.
If you’re curious to read more about the languages I speak, here is another article I wrote that explains why I love to learn foreign languages in my free time.
Don’t give up
If it’s been a while since you’ve tapped into your creativity, don’t despair! If what you create out of your free time is atrocious… celebrate! You made time in your busy day to create and reconnect with yourself. No matter what you create, the fact that you’re having fun and creating, in itself, is a beautiful thing.
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