I Don’t Wanna Grow Up: How To Play Like a Big Kid

“We are always the same age inside.” Gertrude Stein

Do You Remember What It Was Like To Be a Kid?

As you take a look at your daily planner, do you see a day full of meetings, presentations, conference calls, lunch dates, and getting your oil changed? Playtime is nowhere to be seen, where did all the fun go?

Do you remember the days of never-ending games of hide and go-seek? The whole day was basically playtime. We also had the luxury of being fully present in whatever we were doing. We were little people who were free from society’s expectations. We were not lost in the past or imagining the future, just deeply immersed in the now.

If you really take a look at kids playing in a park you will see that they are moving with divine energy. They will run and jump endlessly after a butterfly just for the sheer joy of it.

“Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional.” Tom Wargo

How To Be A Kid Again

Children don’t try to control or suppress their energy; they simply let it express itself in the most natural way at the moment. They don’t think, “Hey look at the beautiful butterfly, I wonder where it’s going? Should I chase after it? Will I look stupid?” No, they just feel the energy bubble up inside and spontaneously allow it to happen, no thinking just feeling. By not suppressing their energies and allowing it to flow, they are constantly tapping into that inner source of infinite energy. Once they stop moving they let their energies settle and gradually go into a state of peaceful sleep. The reason they sleep so peacefully and naturally is that they don’t suppress anything so things don’t carry over into their sleep.

Take the time to think about the last time you really let loose and played like a child. A time when you let all your physical movements dance with joy. Not worrying about how your actions would be perceived by others. A body free of tension and stiff mechanical movements. When you allow your body to be completely loose and fluid you will begin to notice your subtle energy body. You will walk gracefully and feel weightlessness inside you.

When you carry unnecessary tension, anxiousness, and stress within you, you feel heavy and stiff. Your energies are constricted and not allowed to flow.

Activities To Let Loose

Below are just a few suggestions that you can plug into your daily planner. When participating in these activities try to move your focus to less thinking and more feeling. Really put your attention on how the experience is making you feel, don’t verbalize it.

How to be a kid again is all about learning to feel, as we get older we become mainly mind-oriented, you just need to learn to bring your awareness back to your body.

1. Salsa Dancing (dancing in general): This is a great style of dance because it’s very fluid and the music is very lively. Learn to feel the music, let it dictate how your body moves. Take lessons to learn the basics but just really try and move to how the music is making you feel.
2. Soccer, basketball, baseball, etc.
3. Music festivals: Get out there, meet some new people, and just let loose.
4. Painting: Tap into the way you feel and put it down on a canvas.
5. Playing with your kids as if you are one of them.
6. Plan a field day.
7. Water balloons or water gun fights.
8. Climb a tree or rock. Be safe of course 🙂
9. Take acting lessons.
10. Pick up an instrument. Who cares if you suck 🙂 have fun and you just might get good.
11. Sing a song, and go to a karaoke bar.
12. Let yourself laugh without censoring it.
13. Practice some Yoga.
14. Go to an amusement park: Forget everything and just enjoy all the feelings you experience.

Becoming More Childlike: Quick Tips On How To Be Kid Again

1. Suspend your beliefs and feel the experience.
2. Don’t hesitate: If you feel like doing something just do it and stop once you are no longer getting enjoyment from it. If you get the urge to ride your bike, what’s stopping you?
3. Be Open: Kids step out into the world and declare “Here I am world, show me what you got”.
4. Be direct: When kids are discussing what to do, they simply say “Wouldn’t it be fun if we….” and then proceed to do it.
5. Put your ego aside: Before you were conditioned by your parents and society, you were in constant bliss by always exploring the unknown without thinking of how it might affect your ego.
6. Reclaim your child’s creativity. If you learn how to be a kid again, your creativity will naturally explode.

Hope you enjoyed this article on remembering how to be a kid again, this life is a game so get out there and have some fun. If you find my site valuable please pass it along to your friends and family. I really appreciate you helping me in my personal mission to empower as many people as I can.

(editors note: originally posted on 09/16/2009)

18 Responses to I Don’t Wanna Grow Up: How To Play Like a Big Kid

  1. I just wish my body would cooperate and stay a kid with me. It just is not fun having my mind and my body fighting against each other all of the time LOL! I got the mind believing I never aged past about 12 but the body is saying different. Now it is time to get the body under control.

    Thanks for sharing as always Ivan.

    Jeff

  2. Dig the post, Ivan. I love this post, man, especially the part about people tapping into their infinite energy in order to express themselves (gee, this sounds like something that could’ve come from my blog).

    One more thing that is guaranteed to get some laughs and a lot of fun: pillow fights. Sure, it’s childish, but it’s an awesome way to have fun in the moment with some company that needs to loosen up.
    .-= Brett – DareToExpress.com´s last blog ..Dare to Express Launch! =-.

  3. The tips you listed are right on and as we do them repeatedly, they become second nature allowing us to let go and play throughout our days 🙂 Thanks!

  4. Ivan,
    I love your blog and find it very inspiring.
    As I come of age, I find myself wondering about the philosophies of life, and how to apply all of it. How do you motivate yourself to do it all?

    • thank you for the kind words :)…i don’t really need to motivate myself…when you learn to see all that is false…and find what is true within…life itself is your motivator…but it’s not a forced motivation…you just flow with life….

  5. Hi Ivan,
    I really like the posts while reading..i remember when i was a kid that i don’t feel any problem as long as i can play that’s enough for me:-)

    • yes those where beautiful times…you can reclaim your childlike innocence by going within yourself…through meditation….

  6. i’m 15 and you know how teens are with dating…lol. 😀 All this romance is becoming too much for me, it’s comlicating my life. I miss when we could just talk and actually DO things [or not :D]– all day long, but the girls sometimes care too much what the guys are thinking to have fun.That’s sometimes why i don’t want to go out with the guys, we don’t have as much fun. Always flirting and “ooh”-ing. i like a guy too though he’s not in my friend circle. I like the mystery of love and dislike using the terms “boyfriend” & “girlfriend” because they both end with “end”. i don’t like labelling relationshis. how to be a kid again, at such a self-conscious age?

    • of course not, glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for spreading the word. Many blessings to you.

  7. hey i didnt read ur shit yet, im crying right now because i miss my happiness. when we didnt have to worry what people thought, when nothing mattered but having fun …………….. im soo sad and this doesnt even feel real compared to my childhood.

    u said ur a mystic in training …. can i talk to u about thhat. u seem like me in a lot of ways.

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