10 Things You Can Learn from Your Child!
Toddlers are true geniuses! What they can do better than us adults is very simple: be happy. We can learn these ten things from our children to lead a happier life.
We were all young once, we got older, we grew up sometime. And the longer our childhood goes back, the more we forget what it means to be a child.
But childhood has a positive effect on our sense of happiness. Which 10 things we can still learn from small children as adults:
1. Living in the here and now
The older we get, the more we live in the past and the future: we mourn old times, plan appointments, shopping and holidays in the future. What we miss out on is the here and now.
Toddlers have no diary and care very little about the past or future. They live every moment to themselves, not thinking about what to do in the afternoon or during the day.
Of course, we cannot stop ourselves from keeping to future appointments. But we can create moments of the present by consciously surrendering ourselves to our senses: listening to a wonderful melody, consciously feeling the warm rays of the sun on our skin, letting the dessert slowly melt on our tongue with full devotion, immersing ourselves in a picture.
2. Let your emotions run wild
If something goes wrong, we often hold back with emotional outbursts. We don’t cry right away if the partner disappointed us, don’t shout at the boss if he treats us unfairly, don’t try to laugh too loudly when something amuses us in the theater.
These pent-up feelings often result in neck or headaches, stomach problems and depressed moods. It’s time to let everything out!
Infants simply let their emotions run wild: when the ice falls on the floor, they start to cry. If a toy is taken away from them, they also scream when they see something cheerful, they laugh out loud.
So the next time you have reason to cry, scream or laugh: go ahead! You will see how liberating it is …
3. Be naked
When was the last time you walked around your apartment naked (for no reason)? Or slept naked? Adults have internalised the idea of veiling themselves, of always being dressed, of being ashamed of nudity.
And yet, being naked is such a wonderful way to be free. Small children do not care if they walk naked on the beach or in the apartment. They simply enjoy not being restricted by fabrics.
We can learn this from our children – of course only when we are not expecting visitors. Their own four walls or a visit to the sauna are ideal places to get used to their own nakedness again and to benefit from the newly won feeling of freedom: free body, free mind!
4. Listen to the stomach
We eat because it’s our lunch hour. And we keep eating even though we are full because we don’t want our mother-in-law to think we don’t like her food. Or we stuff the piece of cake inside us because our colleague made it herself and decency deserves it. Or we ignore the growling stomach, because summer is just around the corner and we want to fit into the tight little dress from five years ago.
An infant would declare us crazy if it knew these “adult reasons”. Children only listen to their stomach when it comes to food. They eat when they are hungry and stop eating when they are full. And: infants eat slowly while we gobble down a hot dog between two business appointments.
Next time before you unintentionally reach for food, listen to your stomach. Your body tells you what and how much it needs – you’ve just forgotten how to listen to its signals. And there is no reason to mistrust them – nature has created our hunger and satiety feeling perfectly.
5. Take a nap
We have packed our to-do list for the day so often that we don’t have time to relax. Every minute should be used, rest is not!
Toddlers are much smarter. They simply nod off when they feel like it, recharge their batteries and are then significantly fresher, happier and more productive the rest of the day.
We adults can use this energy boost quite well in stressful everyday life! Whether it’s a nap after a meal or a doze on the office chair: we should get used to closing our eyes and recharging our batteries often – no matter how old we are. We deserve it!
6. Unconditional love
Your mother has something to complain about your figure again, your girlfriend about your relationship and your partner has gained a few pounds? Zack, do these traits end up as demerits on the lover list. Adults tend to categorize good and evil, to judge and judge people. But by doing so, we only make life harder for ourselves than it already is.
Toddlers, on the other hand, don’t care whether daddy has gained weight, mummy’s hair doesn’t sit, grandma has overcooked the potatoes or little sister can run faster than she can. A short time later, the toddler is able to hug the person again, to love them unconditionally, to cuddle up to them – without judging their fellow human beings for their behaviour or appearance.
We should learn this kind of affection from toddlers – even if it may seem difficult at first. To ignore mother’s nagging, to ignore your partner’s bacon and to look at your girlfriend’s criticism objectively makes us happier than brooding over the negative qualities of your fellow human beings. Happy thoughts lead to a happy life.
7. Forgive and forget
You’ll never forget that your brother didn’t want to lend you his car, your buddy didn’t help you move, and your partner forgot your birthday, right? After all, this behavior hurt and disappointed you. You may even be thinking about a little retaliation. After all, you feel treated unfairly.
A toddler would never think of resenting people for a long time. It is not unforgiving if Mom once scolded, five minutes later she plays again with the sister who took the ball from him earlier. A child intuitively knows that forgiveness is good not only for others, but also for yourself.
This is exactly what we can learn from small children: forgive and forget. What helps is the question: will it still be relevant in a year? Will it affect my life in five years? Fortunately, in most cases, the answer is no. After all, instead of the brother, your girlfriend lent you the car, instead of the buddy, the colleague helped with the move and your partner gave you a great birthday present afterwards. So everything went well and has no effect on the present or your future.
8. Admire small things
Your favourite plant on the windowsill blooms every year, you fly on holiday at least once a year by plane, the squirrels are constantly running through your garden. All normality for you, nothing special. Or do you?
A toddler discovers the world with open eyes. He admires the raindrops that roll down the window pane, looks enthusiastically through the oven window as the muffins open, watches meticulously as the ants walk along their alleyways. All this enchants the child, makes it happy, makes it shine.
If we still want to shine as adults, we should take a closer look at the little things around us. Our plant, which looks so familiar to us now, forms different buds every year. The flight to the south, which seems so routine to us, is a miracle after all: the plane lets us fly above the clouds, each of which looks different. And the recurring squirrel could become even more familiar to us if we watch it more attentively, if we welcome it more warmly.
9. Laugh heartily
When did we stop laughing? In the ’20s, when we were facing so many new challenges? In the ’30s, when we had to take on so much responsibility for our children? In the ’40s or ’50s, when life seemed half over for us?
As children we laughed a lot: about clowns, animals, other children, misfortunes, cartoons, grimaces and much more! It seemed as if life only consisted of funny sequences. When did we give up this view?
It is advisable to pay attention to the funny things in life again as an adult, to encounter comedy in everyday life, to approach misfortune with humour. We can remember cheerful anecdotes, laugh about our own missteps, watch comedies and cabarets or read funny books. You will soon realize your life will be much more relaxed and entertaining…
10. If so, then correctly
Many adults are distracted more than ever these days. While reading a book, one stops to read the WhatsApp that has arrived. If you are invited to the company party, you go there, but prefer to sit at the table instead of jetting onto the dance floor. And after work we go out for a glass of wine with the girlfriend – but only for an hour, after all you really need some rest.
Toddlers wouldn’t do things by halves. They not only touch a puddle, but jump right in completely. They not only pour out the glass of orange juice a little, but completely. And if you don’t want to eat right now, then you don’t want it at all, so not a little. In principle, children follow the all-or-not-at-all philosophy.
It is now known that multi-tasking does not make us more relaxed, but rather stressful. Now it’s up to us to actually implement the toddler’s all-or-not-all culture: cell phone off if you want to read a book in a relaxed manner, party properly when you are invited to the festival, postpone the meeting with your friend to Friday , so that you can relax after work and have the whole bottle of wine together on Friday. Bottom up!