Decide What Your Attitude Will Be



Have a Child's Mindset



When you think about children of the toddler age, or are blessed to experience them yourself, you come to a realization that they are always on the move, never wanting to stop. They go through each day with more enthusiasm than a grownup can ever imagine and never tire. They coast through their early years often with no real trouble and usually with a smile on their faces.

Children seem to have something about them that we as grownups lost somewhere along the line. They have the ability to forgive quickly, not really worry about things and get frustrated over things, and just enjoy the simple things in life, while never taking them for granted. They never hold grudges and never hold resentments against someone, and if for some strange reason they do, they are playing and interacting with them the next day on the playground.

I had experiences with my two daughters when I walked in their room and they were in their cribs. They would jump up and down, screaming with happiness and great big smiles on their faces. I often wondered what they were smiling and happy about? Was it their birthday? Was it Christmas? Were we leaving on vacation to Disney??

The answer to those questions is No... It was not their birthday, nor was it Christmas and we were not going to Disney... They were just excited about the dawning of a new day. They are happy to embrace a new day and cannot wait to start it! That is where I started to think... I thought to myself...

Why can't adults behave like this?

When did we lose this zest for life?

Can we get it back and keep it?

Too many times as adults, we forget how to live our lives happily and the days seem to slip on by. Sometimes people tend to mope around, sadly to say, over a variety of things that are out of their control like the weather, or something that happened to them in the past, or even something as silly as someone talking about them at the water cooler. Sometimes, people live not just one day like this, but many. They do not know that they cannot get that day or days back... Ever! They repeatedly sob and sulk and in the interim, try to bring others to their level.

We are not on this earth to be miserable. We are on it for reasons: To take each day and make the best out of it. To face new challenges and grow from them. To spill over our joy and happiness in the event that someone else will be infected by it.

We and our emotions are contagious to the people that surround us, be it strangers or loved ones. Like the children that are on this planet, we need to seize the day. We are not on this earth for infinity, but only for a short time.

Today, go back to when you were a child and live without the troublesome melancholy that can seem to swallow you up at times. When you wake in the morning, don't be grumpy and sad because it is too early. Spring out of that bed and hit the floor running like the children do. Make your whole day a game of sorts, and when tomorrow comes, play it again but this time, do it better.

Life comes at you very fast and when it does, you have to be ready. Before you know it, your children will have children and your time on this earth will be coming to an end.

I do not know about you, but I always want to have the mental freedom of a child and will play this game of life daily. I will reflect back on my losses and not fret about them, but seek the knowledge I need so it never happens again.

What can I say? I do not want to grow up.

Copyright © 2010 Rich Barnes

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