Childhood Enthusiasm

Sometimes I wish my life was like a fairy tale, not the princess in need of saving more of the mermaids forever free in the open sea, the adventurer sent to discover new and exciting things, the fairy or fairy godmother filled with hope and wisdom. However, this world is a far cry from a fairy tale. There are no fairy godmothers to make your dreams come true, there is no prince charming to ride off with in the sunset, and there are no magical fairies or mermaids.

Nevertheless, I have learnt something important today there may be no magical fairies or unicorns, but there is magic and beauty surrounding us. We fill our lives with so much stress over the stupidest things! The biggest stress of all money not just from having trouble making our bills, but by our want for MORE we are like errant children inside a grocery seeing a box of their favorite cereal and the mother not being able to afford it. We may not be screaming at the top of our lungs in public "I WANT IT, I NEED IT, GIVE IT TO ME", but I can guarantee most adults are on the inside. I want a bigger house, I want to never worry about bills again, I want the best electronics there is, or I want an expensive car. We fail to remember these are wants not needs our bills are important and should be paid when can but it is up to you as to the bills you make. If you're stressed over your bills, maybe you should sit back and compare your wants and your needs, then you may begin to stop stressing over your life so much and can actually begin to live.

We sit around and think about how evil the world is because of what we see on the news, social media sites, and how others treat us. That's how we start to perceive the world around us, till that evil is all we notice. We are too distracted by the young man who is dressed funny walking into the store guessing his life story and passing judgment, we don't even notice the flowers blossoming nearby and how their smell fills the air, hear the rushing of the stream somewhere in the background, or notice the act of kindness a stranger is doing for another.

Someone once said, "Hold onto your childhood enthusiasm, it's important." At first I didn't fully understand what the person meant until it finally dawned on me the meaning of these words. If you ever sit back and watch children at play or even think of your own childhood you can witness or remember a moment of pure joy. Even those who had the unfortunate experience of a troubled childhood still have some memory of the moment filled with complete joy. As adults, we try to recreate in some way those moments or even chase after moments in which we think can give us the same amount of joy as that child chasing after his friends or playing cops and robbers.

However, we are doing it all wrong! The reason being when we have a moment of complete joy presented right in front of us, we try to control it or we don't even grasp it, we let it slip through our fingers like a passing breeze to move on as quickly as it came by. We don't act as a child does we don't let go and fully enjoy the moment, even if you watch a child play with their friends who is known to come from bad environment their face isn't filled with sadness when they are chasing their friends, the sounds of their cries don't fill the air, and tears aren't streaming down their face because they are no dwelling on the problems going on at home or school. The sound of their laughter dances through the air like ballerinas filled with joy and grace, their cheeks are red not from crying, but from the adrenaline coursing through their veins, and tears do not fill their eyes because their eyes are filled with love and happiness.

Actual love and happiness, not the mask that we so effectively learn to put on our face as we get older to hide the pain and turmoil going on in the inside. We even go as far as finding other ways to cope with our sadness through alcohol, drugs, and other activities that we convince ourselves is fun when deep down we know is only creating more and bigger problems allowing more future stress into our lives. The only way to hold onto our childhood enthusiasm is not by grabbing that bottle, popping those pills, doing those drugs, or cheating on our spouse. That's not happiness that's an illusion, an ill-fated attempt to cover up, hide, or make you forget what problems you may face. Actual love and happiness comes from doing something you love, do something that you truly love with the ones you love. So instead of going out with your secret lover, try doing something truly fun and maybe a little crazy with your spouse remembering the reasons why the two of you fell in love to begin with. Instead of picking up that bottle or taking those pills or doing those drugs and possibly hurting someone around you by having them see you act that way or saying hateful things try and remember your childhood enthusiasm.

We are told that life is a gift, yet many of us just treat it like an old Christmas gift sitting in the back of your closet waiting to be enjoyed. We know it's back there yet we continue to walk past it every day so instead of walking past it try and truly live for once in your life and think of a child because they know how to truly live they embrace the magic and goodness around them, they play and live with no fear and no judgment, whereas we wear it around us like a blanket expecting and wanting warmth that will never come due to our own selfishness. If you want happiness you have to create your own because this is no fairy tale and there are no fairy godmothers or prince charming's to make your dreams come true. Don't be the princess waiting for rescue go out and rescue yourself go on your own adventure.