When we’re kids, most of us can think of nothing cooler than being an adult at last. In true 13 Going On Thirty style, we imagine how amazing it’ll be to eat what we want, go to bed when we fancy and get stuck in at all those grown-up parties. But, like Jennifer Garner in the movie, many of us reach adulthood with one harsh lesson – none of it is as good as it’s cracked up to be.
Okay, adulting might mean that you can eat cake for breakfast (at last!) but the plus points come alongside significant downsides, like paying off student loans, getting dragged into the 9-5, or generally forgetting how it feels to have fun. Not be to doom and gloom guys but, let’s face it; adulting sucks sometimes.
Worse, somewhere along the way we forget what life was like before all these pressures and responsibilities. We definitely forget to laugh as much as we should and, more importantly, our stories don’t end up with us waking to find ourselves 13 again. But, that doesn’t mean that we can’t still rewind the (metaphorical, at least) clock.
After all, we haven’t lost the lessons and joys of childhood, we’ve just forgotten them. Now, it’s time to switch things up again and relearn what we once thought we didn’t need to know by considering these lessons that only our kid selves can teach us.
# 1 – Always have fun
When we’re kids, there’s always a focus on having fun. Birthdays are centered around pure laugh out loud enjoyment, with cake, jelly, bouncy castles and whatever else. Yet, as soon as we become adults, fun changes shape altogether and, honestly, it’s not half as fun anymore.
But, having bills to pay doesn’t need to negate the joy of laughter. In fact, by being more ‘kid’ with our everyday pursuits, we could well re-spark the joy of our younger selves. Luckily, there are now adult-friendly alternatives for most of the things we loved when we were younger. So, book that adult-sized bouncy castle already, or get stuck in with arcades for adults that take you straight back to your younger years. Heck, you could even head out for a day at your favorite childhood zoo if you fancy. It’s all-time well spent if it reminds you how to have fun again!
# 2 – Approach new friends with open arms
Let’s be honest; our ability to make friends is sorely hindered by the onward march of age. When we’re kids, we’ll literally go up to anyone in the park and get chatting, no self-conscious ‘does she like me,’ and definitely no ‘does this seem weird?’ Even in school and college, the classroom environment kind of makes random friendship generation acceptable and easy to come by.
But, from then on, we’re like awkward social turtles who’ve never made a friend in our lives. The trouble is that, if you move away or your childhood friends do, this inability can feel incredibly isolating. Not to mention that a lack of new friends can make life pretty boring!
Instead, we should once again revert to childhood type to overcome the barriers that adulthood places in our way here. Certainly, leaving feelings of self-consciousness at the door of any party or social event can work wonders. Instead, don’t be afraid to get stuck into conversations, or even open with quirky questions that get straight to the point like you did when you were younger. Far from making you look weird, this less self-critical approach can be a lot of fun, and will surely get you known as ‘the fun one’ that everyone wants to invite or meet up with for coffee!
# 3 – Can we get a little creativity?
If there’s one thing we all notably lose as we get older, it’s our propensity for creativity. After all, every single child loves to make things, paint things, and color for the sake of it. Yet, as adults, many of us step away from creative pursuits like these altogether, assuming that they’re just ‘not for us’ because perhaps we weren’t great at art in high school or something.
In reality, though, if every child loves to create, then every adult has that impulse in them, too, and remembering that can be an amazing way to destress and add a little creative color back into your life. Luckily, there are adult alternatives for most things here too, with everything from knitting through to embroidery and even coloring getting the grown-up seal of approval. With each of these tasks, you can rekindle that love for crafting that you thought you’d left behind with your seven-year-old self.
# 4 – It’s time to start learning again
Lastly, kids are WAY better than us adults are when it comes to learning. Younger children, especially, approach everything like it’s fascinating, asking ‘why’ questions that, though sometimes annoying, most of us wouldn’t even think to consider. It’s this curiosity that leads to some of the most interesting revelations about life and personal experience, and it’s this that we as adults need to recapture.
By this, we don’t mean that you need to go back to school (although, why the hell not if a subject takes your fancy?) but more that you should become more curious about the everyday. Instead of just looking past that weird roundabout you cross on your way to work or taking it for granted that your company logo has always been that color, start asking why again. The lessons you learn from doing so might just surprise you and add an entirely new joy to each day.
When you’re up past midnight and eating ice cream in bed, adulting can feel great. But, there’s a whole lot of pressure to cope with as well and, when that gets too much to deal with, you might just find that getting back into your childhood mentality is the best possible option for moving past those challenges, and finding richness in everything all over again.
