Why Children Are Happier – And How You Can Be Too

It may be hard to imagine because, after all, we as adults have responsibilities that kids don’t have. We have to go to work to earn a living so that our families are taken care of. We know things about the darker side of the world that they don’t so it’s understandable that we’d have a little more concern, worry or fear than them, right?

While all of that is certainly true that doesn’t mean that you have to live a life of dread and despair. In fact, if you adopt a few “childlike” behaviors, you’ll have the same level of happiness as them.

What are they?

Fully engage life

When you do something – do it completely. Don’t give it just a piece of your attention; give it all of it. If you watch a child do most anything you’ll see that they are very adept at this. They focus so completely on what they’re doing that it’s often difficult to break their concentration and get their attention.

As adults, we spend a lot of time trying to multi-task. We have twenty things we want to get done today so we do two, three or five of them at a time in an effort to complete them. While that should work, in theory, usually you’ll find that you get less done and what is finished is often a shotty job.

Commit to being fully involved in what you’re doing. Put down your phone, turn of the TV and radio and just do that one thing. It may be kind of refreshing to cut out some of the background noise and give your mind a break from going in several directions at the same time.

Leave the past in the past

It’s hard to be happy when past events or situations haunt your present. Maybe you said or did something that you regret or you failed to take action when you should have. So, you beat yourself up day after day, not letting go because you feel like you need to punish yourself and remind yourself that you failed.

Kids don’t do this to themselves. In fact, not only do they seem to have the ability to forget about yesterday, they often forget about what happened five minutes ago.

Sure, you don’t want to let go of things without learning from them. So, pick out the lesson and then put in on the shelf in your memory bank. Let it start to collect dust because you’ve taken what you need from it and now it’s time to walk on. It’s done its job so let it go.

Don’t worry about the future

Just as the past seems to lack significant importance to children, so too does the future. Sure, they may look forward to some fun event that is planned, but they don’t worry about things like adults often do. They aren’t stuck in their own little mind game of “What if?”

Yes, as an adult you have to have a certain amount of focus on the future. You want to make sure that you and your family are set financially, that you have a roof over your head and food in your tummy at all times. But, you can do that without worrying about it.

The key to looking forward to the future instead of spending a lot of time fretting about it is creating a plan and then executing it. You need to decide what it is you must do for safety and security and you do it. You don’t just sit around and worry about it and hope nothing bad happens because that does nothing useful for you.

Just be yourself

Kids have a great knack for being who they are regardless of who is watching. That’s evidenced by the number of times you see them walking with a weird step just because it’s fun or jumping around like a crazy animal because they’re excited.

Can you imagine yourself responding to things the way you want to instead of the way you feel you should? What’s stopping you? So what others may think you’re a touch of crazy if you scream out of excitement when something positive happens or do a happy dance when you’re feeling giddy? The truth is that they’ll probably actually envy you for being who you are and wish that they were able to do the same.

Let yourself respond to life the way you want to respond. Don’t worry about other people’s interpretations of you. Just be yourself and you’ll be much happier.

Say what’s on your mind

Yes, this one should probably come with a little disclaimer. Kids are well-known for saying some things that are probably better left unsaid. It’s not that they mean to be hurtful; it’s just that they don’t always realize the consequences of words.

But, there is still a lesson to be learned here. The great thing about talking to a child is that you always know where you stand with them. They’re going to tell it like it is, whether you want to hear it or not.

Of course, you’re probably going to want to exercise more tact than most kids do to spare someone else’s feelings if you need to say something they won’t want to hear, but the important thing is to be honest. If someone you care about hurts you, let them know. And, on the opposite side of the fence, if someone else does something that makes you happy, let them know that too.

It may be as simple as paying others compliments when they come to mind. It may feel a little uncomfortable at first because you risk embarrassing yourself, but once you see the smile come across your face, it will become addictive and you’ll likely want to do it again and again.

Use your imagination

One of the great things about kids is that it usually doesn’t take much to entertain them. In fact, most of us know at least one child that had more fun playing with a box that contained a gift you got them more than the gift itself. That can be hard to take if you’re the gift giver, but what enjoyment they got letting their imagination run wild and turning that box into a boat or car or train.

As adults, we’re often stuck in reality. We feel that we have to close our imaginations off and focus on life as it is. However, when we do that, we tend to leave enjoyment behind. Reality is often a grim picture and it’s even worse when we’ve suddenly removed its color.

Don’t be afraid to dream and wish and let your mind wander to faraway places. It’s often these escapes from reality that benefit us the most as they reduce our stress, calm our nerves and instill hope for a brighter future.

It’s not bad to behave like a child at certain times. They often get the better end of the deal with all their happiness and zest for life. Let your inner child out and you can do the same. She’s dying to show you what life is all about.