On April 30th Mexico celebrates Children’s Day. The child I’m closest to at this moment is little Beverly, my goddaughter – the youngest daughter of Fernando, our superintendent at LifePath. I feel so happy to witness her childhood and take part in many important events of her life. It often brings back memories of watching my own daughter – Allison – growing up. There is so much joy and learning in those first years; as a parent, I can attest that every single day was a powerful lesson of love, creativity and true passion for life.

Isn’t it unfortunate that, as adults, we say goodbye to the candor and freedom of imagination that we used to have as children? The truth is, deep down, we still possess that wonder. We never truly cease to be inquisitive spirits, who like to play and discover new things. The excitement for all things new during childhood is something that we should never relinquish when we become adults.

How could our lives as adults benefit from having ‘the eyes of a child’? As you see, I’m not implying that we should act childish – the perspective I have in mind has more to do with wonder, creativity and excitement; and nothing at all to do with infantile attitudes. I believe that if we give ourselves the chance to practice some childhood habits now, in adulthood, our lives can be greatly improved. A child always wants to learn new things, live new experiences, and visit new places. Our child-selves (when our minds were still fresh and pure and in love with every aspect of this world) were trusting, optimistic, and full of energy. No matter what came after – or during – our childhoods; there is always a spark of light that still shines on within us, after all these years. Maybe it’s time to recover that spark.

How can we get back in touch with our child-selves? Simple: play a little every day. It may be doing an activity you used to love as a child and stopped doing later on (coloring, playing board games, watching a lot of movies, reading fairytales); or it may involve actual physical play, when possible (hop-scotch, anyone?). These seemingly non-productive activities will give you a refreshed and invigorating take on life – you may even recover memories you thought long lost; or you may have new ideas to put into practice, whether for your personal life or for your business or practice.

Reach out and shake hands with your inner child. Only wonderful things can come out of it! I would love to hear how it goes for you at   docbeverly@aol.com.