Being Childlike

There is a vast difference between being ‘childish’ and ‘childlike’. Childish refers to behaviour that is immature, maybe even irresponsible. Childlike refers to behaviour that is positive. There are many qualities in a child that are worth emulating. Well, that’s the irony of it. we were once children and had these very qualities in abundance, but as we grew up and ‘matured’, our innocence and child like characteristics ebbed away. Alas! It is the loss of childlike-behaviour that is to be lamented, not the loss of childhood, for is those characteristics were retained we would have nothing to complain about. So, what are these qualities that I am referring to? Think. Think back to when you were a 5 year old… how did you act, react, think, respond, behave…

How long did your anger last? How long did you stay away from the one you were angry with? How long did it take before you forgave and forgot? How long did it take you to go back to your parent after he/she had yelled or even raised their hand at you? Did you ever worry about the future? Did you ever regret, more than momentarily, if at all? How long did you hold grudges? And how long did you stay a grouch?

Observe a child. Any child. One minute they are receiving a scolding from their parent/teacher/any adult. The very next minute, if they approach the child, the child will respond on a clean slate. Everything is forgotten and forgiven. No holding grudges.

Children live entirely in the moment. The child is not worried about what he’ll do when he grows up, the parents are. He lives in the present. That’s another reason why grudges are not held. They drop the issue and move on.

For a child each day is a new day. They wake up fresh, with a clean slate. No bitter remnants of yesterday.

They laugh a lot, they play a lot, they smile a lot, basically they don’t take life seriously and enjoy being alive, every minute of it. It doesn’t take a child much to laugh. What we adults find silly, makes them burst into laughter.

They love unconditionally, no strings attached, no expectations.

Can we go back to being childlike? We sure can…if only we try.

Go ahead…try.