Dream, Imagine & Play Like A Kid Again

The spirit of Chrismas is an incredible reminder of what it means to be a kid. What usually comes to mind when you think of children? Excitement, adventure, play, imagination, creative, learning, fearless, energy, not afraid to be themselves, laugh and cry. So here’s my question for you:
What would it take, for you to allow your inner child to come out and play again?

One of the reasons that I think Chrismas is so powerful is that it is an “excuse” for most people to be a kid again. Everyone makes exceptions to their normal routine to do more, buy more, give more, play more, and love more. Chrismas is an excuse that is built into our culture. It’s accepted that anyone of any age, gender, race, even religion to break the patterns of what is “normal”. In fact the whole idea of an “excuse” to do anything, has to do with getting approval from someone else. Otherwise you would just it anyway, not giving a crap what anyone else thinks. Right? I’ll tell you right now that noone else is ever going to give you permission to be happy. That’s your job.

I’ve found that people have a million reasons why they won’t allow their true selves to come out and play, but it almost always comes down to the unconscious fear of rejection, ridicule, not being accepted. It’s a social/cultural pressure put on us to conform. We even have strong terms and lables for it, “they’re being childish”, “immature”, “They need to grow up”.

But kids don’t buy it, they’re not like that, why? Typically they haven’t been conditioned to worry about or feel held back by the social/cultural pressure. Everyone has dreams and imagination as a kid. What happens to those dreams, do they really dissapear? I don’t buy it. They just get smothered and buried by the voices, fears and doubts of others. Is it your voice that says you can’t or shouldn’t? My guess is no. It usually comes from someone you trust, someone close, who’s opinion you respect. Of course they don’t mean to hold you back, they’re just trying to “look out for you” to protect you. Unless they’re aware of their intetion, many times people will default to trying to protect you from getting your hopes up only to see you fail and feel bad, hurt, sad. So even though they may be good intentions, they’re misguided.

My message is simply this: When you connect with your inner child, you connect with what it is you truly desire. It’s the key to unlimited creativity, performance, stonger relationships, enjoyment, adventure, and so on. It’s the first place to start when trying to create or achieve anything in your life since it’s not determined by anyone else but you. You own it 100%, you control it, it’s your dream of what it means to win. For me that has to do with constantly pushing myself beyond my current limits, developing, expanding. Whether it’s racing my bike, skydiving, traveling, training my mind, coaching others, developing personal and business effectiveness and strategy, etc. One of my favorite mantras is Never Miss An Opportunity. And this last week I’ve had a ton of opportunites to be a kid again like this one with my cousin Cade, building a gingerbread house.

Every moment of the day you have an opportunity, a chance to make a new choice of living an exciting and fulfilling life. All you have to do is make the choice to seize that opportunity. What (or who) holds you back from being yourself and trusting yourself? Give yourself a chance to play, explore, have fun. There will never be a better time then now.

Related:
Take A Quantum Leap In Your Creativity And Results
Money And Your Surrounding Environment

Other Links:
Tools For Personal Growth
Carl Jung – Archetypes – Divine Child

Taking Your Creative Dreams Seriously