When you were a child, you spent most of your time playing and having fun. Every day was an adventure, and the thought of work, bills, taxes, and responsibility seemed like a long way off.
Now, though, you’re stuck in adulthood and wondering what it’s all about. Why don’t you feel the same?
The truth is that becoming an adult is often a process of letting go of happiness. While becoming responsible and growing up are both good things, they can come at a high price.
Now, though, there’s a growing movement that’s seeing people look for ways to rediscover the magic of being a child. People want to go back to the old mental state they used to inhabit.
But how?
Be More Curious
One approach is to be more curious. Instead of believing you already know how everything in the world works, take time to consider what you might have missed.
Curiosity is what drives some of the world’s top scientists to do what they do. They’re obsessed with every tiny detail of reality and want to learn how it really works. This obsession is ultimately what helps them make the breakthroughs that they make.
Nobody is saying you have to be a top scientist. But approaching the world with a sense of mystery can help to re-enchant it, and bring back that childhood sense of mystery and wonder.
Be More Playful
Another thing you can try is being more playful. Instead of following a strict schedule, you could give yourself license to go off on tangents from time to time.
Being playful doesn’t mean you have to regress to doing the things you did as a child. Nobody is suggesting you do that. However, learning a game like mahjong or getting involved in something creative can bring back that childhood spirit.
Spend Time In Nature
Being cooped up in a city for months on end looking at ugly concrete blocks is never fun. After a while, it slowly brings you down. But getting out into nature can help reverse this process. It reminds you that the world is much larger than a cloistered city life.
Spending time in nature is also free and doesn’t usually require much effort. Sometimes, you can cycle to local beauty spots and feel the mystery and silence yourself.
Walking through nature is another way to bring back some of the childhood magic you experienced. While it won’t replicate it perfectly, it can remind you of the fun you had when you went out with your friends.
Ultimately, what spending time in nature is doing is reminding you about the way life used to be. It brings you into the present instead of causing you to focus on the past and future all the time (which is something the world of work and relationships encourages).
Spend More Time With Others
As a child, you also spent a lot more time with other people. You were constantly socializing and getting to know people.
Being a part of the community had a massive effect on your happiness back then. Even though life was sometimes challenging, there were always people around you.
Today, though, it’s a different story for many of us. We live in studio apartments in large cities and don’t have circles of friends. Most of our time is spent alone.
Therefore, if you want to get back into that child-like mentality, it helps to get out and know more people. If you have a lot of friends and people around you, it can make a massive difference to your internal state and how you feel. Being alone isn’t the best choice for the vast majority of people.
Allow Spontaneity
You can also rediscover the magic of being a child by allowing spontaneity in your life. Doing things just because you want to is okay.
When you were a child, you didn’t spend all your time using planners and calendar apps. Instead, if you wanted to do something, you did it without a second thought.
As you became an adult, you lost this sense of freedom. You began following more of a structured existence, doing everything by the book, whether vacations, evening activities, or even family visits.
To escape this way of being, give yourself a license to do more of what you want. Don’t always treat financial constraints as absolute. Allow more freedom in your time and money.
Be Wary Of Nostalgia
Be careful though when looking back at the past. Nostalgia can be a powerful emotion, but almost always leads you in the wrong direction.
Also, most children don’t have a sense of nostalgia. They enjoy their lives for what they are in the present, instead of always circling back to how things were better in the past.
Instead of nostalgia, practice living in the present more. If you can enjoy the moment, that can rewind the clock years and help you rediscover some of the magic.
Embrace Wonder
You can also try embracing more wonder to rediscover the magic of being a child. Kids see the world as an immense place full of hidden possibilities and opportunities.
As adults, we go through a process of rationalization that forces us to see the world on different terms. But this approach harms us psychologically.
The trick is to continue looking at what’s unknown instead of trying to understand everything.
Be Yourself
Finally, when you were a child, you were always yourself. (You didn’t know anything else). You didn’t have to wear a mask for your work or when going out with friends. You had a profound sense of self-acceptance.
But as the years wore on, you began to see how other people played the game. Many people do things to advance their careers that don’t reflect the people they are beneath.
Being yourself can take practice after you’ve been wearing a mask for a long time. It requires listening carefully to your instincts. But it is something you can recover with the right approach.
