Have you ever noticed how much fun kids seem to have? Before the sometimes terrible teenage years, most kids seem to be having such a great time! Sure there can be some temper tantrums and of course, some children have harder upbringings than others, but if you compare the way kids generally live their lives to how adults do, there is such a stark contrast.
Too many adults take life way too seriously. Undoubtedly, there are responsibilities that kids don't have (bills, food to buy, mortgages or rent and more), but this shouldn't stop you being in love with your life. One of the questions I ask myself sometimes is what changes between our childhood days and adulthood so drastically to make so many of us become so serious? It's like grown-ups forgot how to have fun!
The Power of a Smile :)
Kids have so few inhibitions and aren't scared of making fools of themselves. They speak freely, laugh and smile more often, can have fun with even the most basic things like a ball or even their own imaginary friends, and feel free to create without the worry of being judged.
In fact, some studies have shown that while the average adult manages around 20 smiles per day, children manage as many as 400 smiles per day! It has also been shown that smiling more is extremely good for our health, even leading to longer, happier lives. People don't just smile because they are happy, they become happy when they smile :)
Live More Like a Kid Again
Of course as adults, we cannot go back to being kids, as there are certain responsibilities such as jobs, relationships and looking after our own kids that we need to maintain. Life as an adult can't be all just fun and games (sadly).
On the other hand, we can learn to look at life through the eyes of a kid again and stop taking ourselves so seriously. A large part of what stops many adults from doing many of the fun things that they want to do is the fear of being judged by others. We become so worried about what others think of us, that we stop enjoying ourselves.
The reality is though, that most people are so absorbed in their own life that whatever you're doing, however crazy/daft/stupid it might be will only register on their minds for a few moments at most. You can trip and fall in front of someone and they will have forgotten about it in minutes. Don't let this fear of failure or looking stupid stop you from having fun and living life to the full.
Follow Your Passions
So you want to go out skateboarding even as an adult? Just go and do it! You want to go dancing again? Go for it! You want to smile and laugh more and enjoy your life again? Then find the things that you are passionate about and pursue those. Connect (or reconnect) with the people that bring joy into your life and also learn to be able to self-amuse. See the funny side in life and learn to laugh at yourself.
Too often we are held back from doing what we want, say what we want, going where we want or trying something new because we are afraid of looking stupid. People stick to jobs they hate, hang around with people that bring them down, do the same boring things day in day out like spending hours watching mindless TV shows or reading the negative news headlines.
One Life, One Shot!
You've got one shot at life, so make it count, because the biggest failure in life isn't trying something but not succeeding, it's never trying anything at all. A major step to enjoying life more is to focus less on your issues, your worries, your inhibitions and all these other perceived problems which are mostly all in your mind anyway, and focus more on helping others.
The world is full of amazing people doing incredible things and what you will find with virtually all of them, is that they simply do not care what others think about them and don't waste any mental energy on worry. They are doing what they love, generally helping others along the way and having a hell of a lot of fun enjoying this ride that we call life!
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