Children are equipped with certain habits and philosophies that often make them wiser than adults. There is something to be said about the energy and excitement that a child achieves when encountering even the smallest of joys. If you ever see a child walking in the street, watch as they stomp in puddles, even as their shoes get a little bit wet. For kids, a trip to the grocery store becomes a secret mission, and a walk in the park is actually a trek through an enchanted forest. While childhood brings about happiness, the natural flow of adulthood includes abandoning the magic of childhood. Starting in middle school and high school, we begin to take the smallest things in life for granted, even though they are the very things that should propel us to wake up every morning. Do not fret, though, because the magic that is lost is magic that can be obtained once again.
I want you to think about your daily routine. By changing how you perceive these tasks, and by getting reacquainted with some of your childhood hobbies, we are going to revive the magic in the things that you have to get done. Start visualizing at the very beginning of your day. Think right when your alarm queues you into the day. Are you frowning, straight-faced and tolerant, or happy and expectant? Some of the possible reactions that you may have in the morning correlate with how much sleep you may have gotten. That’s a whole other article that you should read, so we won’t touch on that right now. So, assuming you are well-rested in the morning, I want you to think of one good thing that you can do right away that will make your morning better. It could be anything from opening your shades to see the sunrise to stretching or making yourself a cup of tea. Little things make big things better. When your morning is good, the rest of your day will likely follow suit. Throughout the day and during the seemingly boring tasks, you have the opportunity to add in some bits of magic. And, if it doesn’t feel magical yet, don’t worry; we’re going to take care of that next.
Children have an amazing talent for being able to see things in the most positive way possible. As we grow older, we lose practice with this talent, but we never completely lose it; we simply have to work on it the way we work on homework, sports, and other things we care about. Some of us still naturally look at the glass as half full but still need help feeling this way when we are bored or not excited about anything. Others of us tend to look at most things negatively at first glance. We can fix our negativity by finishing every negative sentence with a positive “but” clause. For example, if you see that one of your favorite shows has been taken off Netflix, your first thought may be, “Are you serious? Now I don’t get to watch my favorite show!” Instead, your second thought should be, “But, I can try a new show that I might like even more.” Every negative thought should be ended with the addition of positive thought. “My mom is making me clean my room, and I don’t want to, BUT at least it will look nicer when I am done.” Simply changing the way you view inconveniences will make them enjoyable.
Why is it that we stop doing things that make us happy? This form of self-sabotage instigates countless problems in our adult lives. When did we stop being friends with everyone we came across? Why did we stop smiling at strangers and dancing in the grocery store? If there’s one thing I know, it’s that swinging on the swings is one of the greatest things you can do to nurture your soul, so why did you stop when you reached a certain age? The fearlessness that children embody is the very reason why you rarely see one sad. Or if they are sad, why they can rebound back to happiness a second or two later. Please sing your favorite songs at the top of your lungs, and please don’t worry too much about that test. I beg you to laugh at every joke and face every inconvenience with an unbreakable smile. I urge you to be a child for as long as you are an adult, and I promise you that there will always be happy things so long as you choose to see the happy things.