Child-like

There are some things in life that are much more enjoyable when you're a child than they are when you're older.  Things like playing in the snow and using your imagination to play with your "imaginary friends."  As we grow up, we forget what it's like to experience these moments of bliss.  We forget the joy of simplicity.  In our modern world, our lives are complicated in just about every way they can be.  We worry and fret over the little things, and we leave little time for using our imagination they way we used to.  Sometimes, we need a little break.  We need to schedule ourselves a day for play.  A day to enjoy the simple things in life.  Enjoy the nature.  Walk outside and see how the glorious sun shines radiantly down upon us, feel the warmth of its rays.  Feel the gentle breeze of the wind as it moves past us on its way to a new destination.  Smell the scent of the rain as a cool shower approaches, or smell the lovely mix of sweet flowers blooming in the early spring.  Watch as the little bees move to and fro, pollinating the plants and making their honey.  Fulfilling their niche in our circle of life.  We need to relax, pretend that time is standing still, and just take in everything.  We need to remember what it's like to be a child.  We need to unlock the cage we keep our inner child in and let it out, let it breathe.  We tend to suffocate our inner child with all of our daily worries, forgetting that we need to let everything that bothers us go.  Face our fears, do what we can to fix our problems, and then let it all go.  Children let things go easily.  They fall on the playground, cry hysterically for 5 minutes, then magically move on with their lives.  When a friend makes them mad, they may act out or cry, but once again they move on in a timely fashion.  As we get older, we forget how to move on.  We let things pester us, hide from our problems, and fill our lives with so many things that we never have time to let everything go. 
    Children love to use their imagination.  When things go wrong, they can mentally create something to fix their problem.  That could be an imaginary friend, or a monster to fight, or a game to play that will cheer them up.  As we grow we forget our imagination.  We think "that's a silly idea," or "I'm too mature to play pretend." We make so many excuses for ourselves that we justify the neglect of our imagination.  Almost like using our imagination is a bad thing.  What we really need is to use our imagination again.  Who cares if it makes you look silly?  If it makes you happy, what's the harm in playing pretend every now and then?  Remember when you used to play outside?  You were an explorer, discovering a brand new jungle with new exciting animal species.  Or maybe you were a doctor and you only had an hour to save your friend's life.  Or maybe still there was a secret puzzle that you had to solve in order to find a hidden treasure.  Remember the pure joy pretending brought you?  Why would you not want to do that again?  How long has it been since you've been as happy as you were when you were younger?  Sure there are things in our lives now that make it harder for us to feel our inner child, but that child is still there.  We grow up and move on with our lives, but we haven't lost our ability to imagine.  Is it not ironic that some of the most inspiring stories are stories of young children doing things to make a difference?  You know why that is?  Because children haven't faced that so-called "reality" of "I'm too small to make a difference in the world"  Children believe they can do anything, because when they imagine, they can.