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Why being a kid is the best way to be...

So, for years people have told me that I act like a kid. It used to bother and upset me. Did it mean that I'm immature? Unprofessional? Not serious enough? I would spend so much time trying to figure out how I could act more "grown up" and not so "childish."

One day, a couple of years ago, I was on the beach with my husband. I started freaking out over sand dollars - I'd never seen one before and it was truly mind blowing to me. Ryan looked at me and said "I love how excited you get over the tiniest things. Most people are so run down by life that they don't even notice the little things."
 
And that's when my attitude changed about being called a "kid."

There are attributes that children exude that I absolutely love and pray that I also exude: innocence (let's be clear here that I don't mean naivety), unbridled love and joy, unadulterated excitement over the tiniest of things in life, genuine happiness to see and be with people they love.

I spent about 2 hours one day with my 4 year old niece and a jack-in-the-box. Like, an old-school pop up toy. We took it in turns winding the old hand crank on the side and jumping in terror over the POP of the clown. Each time we both cried in laughter. I hope that she will always laugh when she plays with simple toys. I pray that she holds onto the joy of seeing her family laugh. 

I don't mind that I would rather watch cartoons than dirty comedies. I'm okay with knowing that horror movies give me nightmares - even the ones that most people think are stupid. I am comfortable with most "adult" humor going over my head - and that what makes me laugh the absolute most is someone being hit in the privates. I'm good with that fact that Hallmark commercials make me cry and M&M commercials make me laugh more than they should.

I'm sad for people who take themselves so seriously that they can't find joy in the little things. I'm heartbroken that more kid's jokes aren't heard - because, frankly, if you don't cry-laugh when a kids tells a joke (between laugh-hiccups) that doesn't make sense, you need to find your joy. We only get one chance to go through life and I would rather spend mine in a cloud of happiness and joy. Childish or not. 

Comments

Anonymous said…
Great post!! So much wisdom in trying to remain childlike, but I must confess it's something I struggle to pull off... : (

It's so easy for adult worries to drag us down and keep us from smiling and playing like a kid!
July 16, 2015 at 8:10 AM
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