What can children teach us about what makes a life worth living? A great deal.
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I don’t know about you, but September is a good time for reflection about how the year is progressing. It is like a re-start. With all of the students going back to school, September reminds me of the importance of beginnings. This year, I’m thinking about what makes for a good life.
Everyone has ideas of what makes for a life worth living. A Google search shows millions of hits that try to answer the question. And if you ask different people, they may answer the question differently:
- Advertisers – a good life is in buying more stuff.
- Accountants – a good life is in preparing for the future.
- Educators – a good life is in knowing more.
- Engineers – a good life is in planning more.
- Mechanics – a good life is in maintaining what you have.
- Parents – a good life is found by listening to me.
- Religions – a good life is found by following.
- Scientists – a good life is found through research.
- Teachers – a good life is found through discovery.
Each of these has something valid to say and they can teach us. But I think they miss the point. I wonder if the more organized and together we try to be, the more we miss what is important? Maybe it’s time to go back to school and learn from children about what is important.
Jesus talked about the importance of watching kids and how adults can learn from how they live:
Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
- Recess and play
- Having snacks together instead of eating at your computer
- Being outside
- Laughing at everything, including farts and burping
- Mystery, discovery, and learning new things
- Naps
- Crossing the street is an accomplishment
- Creating your own works of art
- Being messy is fun
- Hope comes from knowing the world is a big place and there is a lot of cool stuff you can learn about
Restarting is not about changing your life. It may be about having a little more hope today than yesterday or stepping out and doing one thing differently.
One of the best articles on what makes for a life worth living is by James Altucher, What Happened to All of the Laughter. I hope it makes you smile.
Keep It Real.
Photo by MARG.
Getting High on Recovery 
Yes, we need to be like little children. They have more fun, have all their meals cooked by someone else, get all their bills paid by someone else, get to goof off and just be silly – yup – that’s what I want.
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