The Joys of being a Child

As I was shoveling my sidewalk and my car (yes, my car. It was too much snow for the snow brush to handle) last week, I got to thinking about the simple joys of childhood that have recently escaped me. I found myself wondering “How nice would it be if today was a weekday, and consequently a snow day”. But then I thought, if it was a snow day would I really enjoy it? I would probably be thinking about all the things I have to accomplish in the next week and what I would be missing at school. Does this make me responsible, or does it mean that I have lost that childhood ability to revel in the moment and just be happy with what is?

As I was pondering this thought, it reminded me of one of my favourite childhood books, Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery. I loved this book because it was simply about the joys of being a child and how adults lose the ability to think in simple terms. Each time I read this book I vowed to never be like those adults. I need to remember that promise I made to myself as a young child the first time I read this book in my French class. I must learn that there is always time to be a child.

I highly recommend that all of you read this book, especially as we embark on what are bound to be the most challenging and “take these seriously” years. (Don’t worry, it’s also available in an English version, called “The Little Prince”). This book, most importantly is about the possibilities of life. As children, we believe we can do anything. Somewhere along the way, we lose this ability to see the potential that lay in front of us, and we no longer allow ourselves the joy of imagining.

Maybe we didn’t succeed at something that really mattered, maybe someone said something hurtful about our abilities, or maybe we just got intimidated and didn’t let ourselves shine in the way we knew we could. Due to this upset we decided to stop allowing ourselves to get excited over things, and think “I can do this”. We replaced this positivity with thoughts like “I can’t possibly succeed at that” or “I am not qualified enough to apply for that position”. This book emphasizes the importance that the imagination has on who we are, and how we perceive what we are all capable of doing. Take a minute out of those crazy days, take a minute out of trying to prove yourself to others, and just prove yourself to you. Take pride in what you can do, and wonder how far you can really go. Picture yourself doing things that you dream about. Let yourself succeed in your daydreams. More importantly, believe that you can and will do these things one day.

We are going to be trying to prove ourselves to potential employers, and impress those who do become our employers. As we do that, I think we all need to stop, breathe, and remember the simple joys of everyday life and revel in the moment. We need to remember who we were as children and how easy it was to believe that we could do anything. Remember the simple joy of playing dress up and knowing that you could fly just like Superman or rock out just like Jem and the Holograms, and make those little people inside of us proud.