There is a time in our lives when we all have to give up our childhood and become responsible adults. It is hard to identify precisely when it happens, somewhere in your teens for most of us. Suddenly that LEGO Lakeside Lodge set you wanted is replaced by overpriced sneakers that you thought you needed.
Shortly after, you go from the social ambitions that dominate your every waking moment to the critical stage when you have to start making real and meaningful life decisions. One day you wake up, sit back and realise that you miss the magic, the unfiltered joy of freely exploring your playful, imaginative self.
Making that connection doesn’t necessarily mean dressing up as batman and fighting imaginary crime. All it means is that you actively regain the ability to experience the pure and enthusiastic joy that you were so readily capable of feeling as a child.
You Are Not Too Old To Play
Understandably, we are all a little jaded and pessimistic. Between economic turmoil and political lunacy, it makes sense that we are perhaps all a little sceptical and a little jaded. The problem is that this sort of world-weariness seems to trickle down and seep into every aspect of our lives. Regardless of your age and status in life, there is no doubt that you are never too old to let go and let your inner child out.
Allow Yourself To Expect Joy
Is there a connection between the symptomatic similarity to depression and the inability of an older adult to enjoy an activity they used to love? Unfortunately, many adults assume they are not allowed to enjoy the finer things in life, such as child’s play and other freeing and innocent activities.
It seems as though we have come to expect that the activity would no longer bring us joy. That it shouldn’t, and that everything about gaming was the domain of childhood. However, a particular part of us longs to relive the joys of childhood bliss.
You Impose Your Restrictions
We all know that we impose restrictions on our behaviour. It’s part of adulthood, an essential part of emotional maturity. Where it seems to get a little distorted is when we are imposing restrictions on having fun for the sake of fun.
Is it possible that the restrictions that we impose upon ourselves to play, to have fun, are causally linked to the social paradigm that we should be doing something productive? At all times, we are supposed to be working on ourselves exclusively in a way that ensures professional and financial success.
Permit Yourself To Experience Child-Like Joy
This is what it boils down to; the heart of the matter. The precious lesson we should learn from children, from our childhoods is that they do not try to have fun. Kids play, they do the things they enjoy at every opportunity.
Whether playing for you means working on your model train set, playing PC games are just taking your dog to the park and tossing a ball. It is when you let go of trying to extract fun and let yourself experience the moment in an unfiltered way. That is how you reopen yourself to childlike joy.
