FORGET CHANGE, INSTEAD THINK OF PROGRESS!
I believe in change, not everyone does, I do. More than that, I believe in progress and that happiness is within our control.
The reason I believe this is because I believe in the power of FUN. Because where is the room for doubt and negativity when you’re having fun. Real fun. Laugh out loud fun. Childlike fun.
And in order to get in that ‘fun zone’, we need to engage with our inner child.
Think about a small child. When learning to walk we praise their every effort regardless of whether they make one step or make it from one room to the next. We encourage and they make progress. And they laugh and giggle as they fall and make mistakes. And yet without fail, they get back up and try again.
Yes they change too, but change is automatic. From the moment we are conceived we change, most obviously our bodies change, and we continue to change in this way even after we die. So change is automatic.
What isn’t automatic is progress. And for some reason, as adults, we seem to struggle with, reduce our capacity for, or give up and shy away from progress.
So why do we do this? It is my belief that as we grow up, we form our identity based on our life’s experiences. Our parents, our relationships and friendships and how we see ourselves fitting into the world. As this happens, and as we race against ourselves to grow up, (who doesn’t remember being desperate to be another year older when they were little, or talking about ‘when I grow up’?), and be a grown-up, we lose touch with our inner child. The person we actually came into the world to be. The person we really are, but we no longer make time for once we’re a grown up.
Locked up inside each of us, that person still exists, and it is that childlike person, inside us, that is our source of fun and our force for progress.
So this year, in 2013, I invite you to reconnect with your inner child, have childlike (not childish) FUN, and make progress with yourself and for yourself.
And as you do, I promise you, you will be bombarded with happiness along the way, and a jar full of memories that will continue to make you smile regardless of how life or your body changes 🙂
Lydia x
n.b: With thanks to Scott ‘Q’ Marcus (@thistimeimeanit) and Tony Robbins (@tonyrobbins) for influencing this post.