5 Childhood Habits I Take for Granted
The older I get, the more complex I seem to make things. I get really analytical. I examine. I research. I use rationality. I conceptualize. I consume information.
Why? Maybe for the credentials. I want to look good, and sound smart. I don’t want to embarrass myself. It helps give me meaning and purpose. If I’m not reading a book, listening to a new podcast, or watching another TED talk, I’m falling behind, right?
I use the term, “Cost of Doing Business” a lot. There is a cost to every choice, and action we make every day. The cost of focusing on building up an ego? Well for me, it’s unnecessary stress, anxiety, and tension.
There was a time when I just went and did things, without reading why they were beneficial. It just felt natural. There was a certain level of content with everything.
These are the 5 things I did as a child that will make my health (and hopefully yours) better. I could have added scientific benefits, cite research, and get your prefrontal cortex all hot, and excited. Except that’s getting away from the point. The point is to guide us back to our natural selfs.
Move Constantly
Crawl. Walk. Run. Sprint. Climb. Jump. I did this all in multiple directions, and varying intensities. All these movements in the forest, grass, sandboxes, rocks, fields, playgrounds. I biked, roller bladed, swam, skated, played soccer, basketball, baseball, tag, hide and seek, and probably some random games I made up I no longer remember. There was no excuses. It all just seemed to happen naturally.
Play Outside
I craved this. The outdoors was so vast, open, and new. Inside was lame. You could only hide in so many places. And tag? Running into a wall and stubbing a toe on the coffee table was not fun. Forts built in the forest were so much better than blankets over my couch (that always seemed to fall on my head). My skin would feel the Earth, Sun, air, and water. Fluorescent lighting for 14 hours a day, filled with Netflix until falling asleep was not a thing.
Laugh A Lot
Seriously. Literally. Come on. Get your life together. Figure it out. Think about what you said. Why did I say that? I’m such an idiot. My life so stressful. When will I ever catch a break?
We take ourselves way too seriously. I know I do. It’s partially why I was so hesitant to put my words out into the world — I was so in my head about what good it was really going to do me or anyone who read it. Relax. Just go for it. Stay curious. Laugh at yourself. And enjoy good company as often as you can.
Seriously, just relax.
Got My Hands Dirty
Creativity was manifested everywhere. Painting, building sand castles, helping my mom garden, playing with worms, running through the yard with my bare feet, building a real life pod-racer with Wal-Mart snowboards, making a race car with my GT racer in the garage, making race tracks in my back yard in the middle of winter. These all happened, as embarrassing as some of these maybe.
Dreams Helped Express Myself
NHL player, fire fighter, pilot, race car driver, artist.
These are all things I just believed I was at my core. In reality, they were just labels. Not false hopes. They allowed me to express myself in unique, novel ways. Of course, if I truly wanted to be one of these things, I would have went for it. Innate, passion would emanate in every action and help me get to that goal.
All I remember is that time was on my side. My entire life was ahead of me.
So now I ask myself, what am I doing today to truly express myself? Who cares what the “label” is? Do it for you.
Let’s not wait for science to catch up on the fundamentals of what make us healthy in every way.
Thank you for reading!
Paul
