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33 Ways to Be Childlike Today

Kids Painting

“Great is the human who has not lost his childlike heart.” ~Mencius

Remember when life was simple?

When your friends were the most important thing in the world. When a snow day was a perfect excuse to have fun, not a block of time when you felt guilty about being unproductive.

When the ice cream truck could make your day, no matter what happened before. Bad grade? Big deal—it’s snow cone time. Skinned knee—who cares, you have a screwball!

If only you could bottle that sense of freedom, fun, and enthusiasm for the little things, you could carry it in your responsible adult pocket and take a swig when you started taking everything too seriously.

I don’t know about you, but mine would be in a glass vial embellished with red, pink, and purple swirleys, topped with a water globe stopper that had a palm tree in it. (Yeah—that’s right!)

Maybe we don’t need some major departure from business as usual to stop being stuffy and start being childlike (which can actually help you become more innovative, in case sheer joy isn’t motivation enough).

I’ve compiled a list of ideas to be more childlike today. I chose thirty-three because it’s the house number where my parents live, and it’s because of them I am the best couch cushion fort maker on both the east and west coasts. Enjoy:

Learn

1. Read a book you loved as a kid. My book of choice: Oh the Places You Will Go by Dr. Seuss.

2. Figure out how something works, even if it’s irrelevant to your life, just because it’s interesting. Go ahead—Google “how fish breathe” or something you don’t fully understand.

3. Fill out your own permission slip to go to the aquarium, a museum, or a nearby tourist attraction. If something looks interesting, take a break and go!

Play

4. Do something fun. Make a Lego village, pull out the coloring book, or jump rope.

5. Explore. Walk around your block without any intention. Just see what’s going on, maybe even using a big fallen branch as a walking stick.

6. Run or skip if you feel like it. Flail your arms, like Phoebe in my favorite episode of Friends.

7. Be silly. Look for funny things in your day—they’re always there—and let yourself laugh about them.

8. Try a new look. Think the kid from Adam Sandler’s Big Daddy, when he dressed himself, but a little less ridiculous.

Share

9. Remember something awesome and call a friend to share it. (i.e.: ‘Member the time we made pizza for breakfast? That was awesome, huh?)

10. Tell someone they’re your hero. If you admire what they do, look right in their eyes and say, “I think you’re pretty awesome.”

11. Be a know it all. Tell someone about something you learned today and get excited about sharing it.

12. Tell it like it is. Don’t be a liar, liar, pants on fire. As Dr. Seuss said, “Say what you mean and mean what you say because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”

13. Be vulnerable. Tell someone how you feel or what you really want to be when you grow up, without making them pinky swear to take it to the grave.

14. Share a meal with people around a table, even if it isn’t a special occasion, like that Norman Rockwell painting families often recreate.

Connect

15. Tell your mom and dad (or favorite relative) you love them. Call them right now and say it for no reason other than it being true.

16. Make a spontaneous play date. Invite people over right now, for no reason but to have fun, even if you have plans scheduled for the weekend with them.

17. Eat lunch on a rock with a friend. You don’t need a restaurant or a cafeteria. Channel the good old days from camp when a little sand in your PB & J meant a lunchtime adventure.

18. Ask for help if you need it. Just like you used to pull your desk next to someone else’s to read along, walk up to someone you trust and let them be there for you.

19. Tap into your innocence—meaning give someone the benefit of the doubt, as if you don’t know yet to be cynical.

Create

20. Make a card by hand to give to someone you care about. As Pablo Picasso said, “All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”

21. Get messy when you’re cooking. Not tomato-sauce-on-the-ceiling-fan messy. The point is: let loose and enjoy yourself instead of making cooking a chore.

22. Start a piggy bank. Or a coin jar. You don’t need to save big to save, and you never know what little adventures you can have with just a little extra cash.

23. Try a hands-on project from the Be Creative! Adults section of the Creativity Portal, like gum wrapper origami.

24. Assume you’d be really good at something—piano, rock climbing, organizing a club—and then find out instead of assuming the opposite.

Be

25. Sit criss-cross in your chair if you’re able. Crossed-legged sitting is actually really good for your posture—an added bonus!

26. Surround yourself with your favorite color. If orange makes you smile, plaster orange pictures all over your cubicle.

27. Cry if you need to. If the day gets difficult, don’t try to be a hero. When you let yourself feel it, you’re better able to let it go.

28. Relax and do nothing. Don’t try to fill that empty pocket of time. You’ve been productive enough. Kick back, cut loose, and let yourself waste a little time. As John Lennon said, “Time you enjoyed wasting was not wasted.”

Imagine

29. Forget what was tough about yesterday. Why dwell on that fight with your sister when you could be having fun today?

30. Change your mind easily. According to Alison Gopnik, a professor of psychology at the University of California at Berkeley, kids’ brains are extremely flexible, “so they can change what they think based on new evidence very quickly and easily.”

31. Visualize a tomorrow with endless possibilities. Not sure you can be the person you want to be? Read 10 Ways to Be the Person You Wanted to Be as a Kid.

32. Don’t take no for an answer. If there’s something you want to do, be persistent. You can make it happen!

33. Ignore something someone says if it limits you, your potential or your possibilities.

Have anything to add to the list? Go for it. I double dog dare you…

Photo here

About Lori Deschene

Lori Deschene is the founder of Tiny Buddha. She started the site after struggling with depression, bulimia, c-PTSD, and toxic shame so she could recycle her former pain into something useful and inspire others to do the same. You can find her books, including Tiny Buddha’s Gratitude Journal and Tiny Buddha’s Worry Journal, here and learn more about her eCourse, Recreate Your Life Story, if you’re ready to transform your life and become the person you want to be.

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[…] you need some ideas to tap into your inner child, read today’s post: 33 Ways to Be Childlike Today. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "April 23, 2010", url: "http://dev.tinybuddha.com/quotes/april-23-2010/" […]

clickphotographykc

Definitely words of wisdom I can take a use today and everyday. 🙂

nikkifaith

Great post! Love the “Friends” reference. I'm going to get in touch with my inner-Phoebe today!! 😉

[…] Tweets about this great post on TwittLink.com […]

Marianna

All wonderful ideas!

It's important to note, that stress can rob one of the ability to be child-like. The cascade of neuro-chemicals that are released during times of stress (negative thoughts and emotions) can exacerbate feelings of seriousness. It becomes difficult to let the (inner) child out to play.

Change can happen by choosing even just one of the above ideas and augmenting it with the power of the heart.

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Lori Deschene

Hi Mariana~ Thanks for the note…I can recall times when I've felt stressed and unable to be childlike, but I didn't realize there was a chemical reason for it. Great information to know!

Lori Deschene

Awesome! I did a little Phoebe running yesterday morning, actually. Always makes me smile =)

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Suzie

I decided to try to make one of the 33 missions per day! Even will create a blog about it…. Let's see the results! Hope I can do it well!
Suzie xx

[…] can’t wait to have time for play.  We have to build it in.  If I know I have a hectic day of work ahead of me, I will set aside […]

[…] 33 Ways to Be Childlike Today […]

[…] 33 Ways to Be Childlike Today […]

[…] other than having fun. We need opportunities to disconnect our minds and experience the world with childlike curiosity and wonder. All of this requires us to whittle away at our […]

[…] 14. Set aside some time to play and be childlike. […]

Drusillah

I liked almost all of these points 🙂

Just that point 15 doesn’t strike well with me… What if it is not true? Not everyone had wonderful parents nor does everyone have a warm relationship with them. Maybe it’s a minor detail, but I felt the need to express it.

Other than that, nice ideas 🙂

[…] 33 Ways to Be Childlike Today […]

[…] 33 Ways to Be Childlike Today […]

[…] 14. Set aside some time to play and be childlike. […]

[…] play, laugh, explore, discover, connect, and see the world with wonder. We can reclaim our sense of childlike possibility at any age by choosing to imagine and […]

[…] 27. Do an updated version of that awesome thing, right now. Really—grab your markers, or your bike, or your flashlight, or you video camera, and have a childlike adventure. […]

[…] article can be found here. Comments [0]Tags: article, tinnybuddha Leave a Comment (All comments are moderated before […]

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[…] to implement into my life, I was especially drawn to #14: Set aside some time to play and be childlike, so I wanted to test it out for myself and share with you what I […]

Anusha

What a beautiful article! Thank you 🙂

Lori Deschene

You’re most welcome! 🙂

Tsuki

God bless 🙂 Thank you!!

Nikola Gjakovski

This one is my favorite “kids’ brains are extremely flexible, so they can change what they think based on new evidence very quickly and easily.” An adult brain is like a rock. Its more and more solid with the years. It is also good to know that as a fact so we can change it 🙂 Great article Lori

Jeffrey Friend

Awesome post Lori. Believe it or not, I started a piggy bank about 7 or 8 months ago! I’m so excited to see how much is in there when I open it. The plan is to break it (it’s one of those you have to actually break to get the money out – genius) when I leave Costa Rica and move back to the states. Hopefully there’s enough to cover the high prices of food at the airport! Lol.

It’s sooooo important to be a kid and just do you, without caring what people think. Thank you for the reminder!

Lsea

Thank you for the article. It’s not Normal Rockwell the artists name is actually Norman Rockwell.

Lori Deschene

You’re most welcome, and thanks for painting out my mistake! =)

Lori Deschene

You’re most welcome! =)

Lori Deschene

Thanks Nikola! Fascinating, about the difference between our brains. Life is definitely a lot more fun when we’re more flexible and less rigid.

Lori Deschene

You’re most welcome! And very cool, about the piggy bank. Hope you get endless amusement and a nice meal out of it. =)

loving_what_is

I love this! I’m going to try to do all of these things in the coming months 🙂 I firmly believe the world would be a much more pleasant place if we were all a little more childlike.
I’m going to have to challenge your “best couch cushion fort maker” claim, though. At least on the east coast ;p

Sarah Woolley

Oh Lori! Amazing and so helpful! I love the painting at the top and your suggestions are fabulous and so helpful! Thank you, thank you, thank you! You are a light in the world. Keep shining and lighting the way! Love to you and your family!

Lori Deschene

You’re most welcome, Sarah! Love to you and yours, as well. =)

Carey

That’s exactly what caught my eye too! It was an ‘aha’ moment. Why NOT just let myself be easily swayed for a change?

Sancy

Love this Lori, and keeping it on hand as a reminder. Do you have a way to re-blog this post, or share in a blog?

Lori Deschene

Glad you enjoyed it, Sancy! If you’d like to share this on your blog, you could do something similar to what the Dalai Lama Center did:

http://dalailamacenter.org/blog-post/33-ways-be-more-childlike

Nikola Gjakovski

I think because we get older and the flexibility fades more and more … I see my grandmother. If she thinks the wall is black THE WALL IS BLACK and that’s final for her 😀 even though it’s as white as the skies

Sancy

Thanks Lori, will work on that. Love your site!

Aqilah Norazman

Love this post, Lori. Thanks for the reminder too! I will try and sit Indian style right now, just for fun. No better reason than this, right. 🙂

Lori Deschene

You’re most welcome. I’m glad you’ve enjoyed it! =)

Lori Deschene

You’re most welcome! =)

Lori Deschene

I believe the same! And I’m up for the challenge haha =)