Kids are natural scientists - Alan Alda
Kids are innocent. Kids are curious. Most of all, kids are open to new ideas. They have a sense of wonder that we are all born with. They see the world with a perspective that we adults have lost somewhere in the growing years.
And somewhere deep in our adult selves, there is a kid hidden, buried beneath the social conditioning and hard formed ideas. We seldom get in touch with the inner kid. Most of us are not even aware of the existence of this inner kid. In fact, the idea of 'behaving one's age' is so firmly ingrained in us that we are ashamed to even acknowledge our 'kid side'.
Of course, I am not suggesting that we all start talking and jumping around like kids. Nor am I suggesting that we abandon all mature thinking and sense of responsibility.
So, what am I suggesting?
We all should get in touch with our inner kid. What exactly does it mean?
1. Firstly, we should keep our sense of curiosity alive. So many of us have experienced a small kid asking us questions like, "Why do stars twinkle?" or "Why do people fight?" or "How does the sun shine?".
For us adults, the answers to these questions may be obvious. But the kid asking these questions means that the kid is curious and wants to know. As we grow, many of us are subjected to a culture of unquestioned obedience especially at the work place. We stop asking questions like WHAT, WHY and HOW? We tend to take so many things for granted - 'This just happens this way.'
If we go to the root of any major change in the world, it is because someone asked the questions WHAT, WHY or HOW? A scientist is an adult who managed to keep the natural sense of curiosity alive. They managed to retain this precious gift against the onslaught of the world. Not just scientists, anyone who brought about a substantial change in any walk of life was above all curious.
2. Be open to new ideas. Kids are impressionable. They are by default open to new ideas. They receive new ideas and experiment in them till a newer and better idea comes about. As we grow, our ideas about everything tend to get fixed and inflexible. While this may be practically necessary in certain areas of life, it often hinders our growth and learning. It can be with regards to our ideas about the world, people and even about ourselves.
This is not to say that we accept everything dished out to us. There is a difference between blindly accepting everything and being open to new ideas. The problem is, we stop even considering new ideas that are even slightly different to our fixed thought pattern. Then we wonder why there is no progress and change happening!!
Be open to new ideas, consider them and if feasible give them a try before you abandon them. We adults have a benefit of experience on our side. This combined with an openness to new ideas can and will create wonders.
3. See the good in everything. Kids are always ready to forgive and give benefit of doubt to others. For them, till a certain age, everyone is good. Again, as adults, this may not be practically feasible in all situations, we still need to open up to the fact that there is something good in everyone and if given a proper chance, the person in most cases will choose to be good. We adults often tend to brand a person or a thing as 'totally bad and useless' based on one experience. ("This outlet is bad so I will never visit any outlet of this chain ever again" or "This person did not smile back. I will never wish him again.") A kid on the other hand will fight tooth and nail with a friend, announce that they are never going to talk again and be back with the same friend in less than 24 hours!!
Repeat offenders and criminals aside, we need to start being more forgiving and give a second chance more often. It is seen as a sign of weakness but it is not. Often the person is more important than the situation. The situation is transient but the person can be for life.
4. Remember, it is not always about you. There is a thin line between exercising self-respect and egocentric behavior. Most of us live our lives on the line. An innocent kid will happily forego own interest for that of the larger group. But how often do we adults 'make it about oneself'. We do it more number of times than we realize.
More than any time in human history, there is a growing realization for the need to work as a team and stick together. There is also a growing realization that the ego is a major obstacle in living a happy life. Ironically at the same time there is a growing tendency to hang on to the ego and promote oneself over the group. This dichotomy is at the root of so many conflicts. Remember that our roles in life are transient and our decisions need to be taken for the larger group. Kids are born with this awareness. Adults have to be retrained in it after several years of life!!
5. Keep it simple. Our habit (or more aptly the ego's habit) of complicating things is a major cause of stress and conflict in the world. Most of the time, most of these complications are introduced just to keep oneself relevant to the situation. However, unknown to ourselves we tend to tie ourselves up with the very thing we hope to dominate.
Learn to keep things simple, be it processes, systems, decisions or life itself. Learn this from the kids. One of the reasons why kids are stress free is that they keep it simple. That's the reason they seem to have it all figured out. Maybe they really have it figured out, right? We 'unfigure' it as we grow.
6. Drop those prejudices. Do I even need to reiterate the importance of this? The world is witnessing turmoil due to so many prejudices that we harbor against each other. No child is born a racist or a bigot or a hater. We pick it up on the way to adulthood.
Drop those prejudices. Maybe not all at once, start small. It is a part of giving a second chance. Try it and see the wonders.
In conclusion.....
Adults have the benefit of experience and knowledge. Combined with the qualities of kids this can produce wonders for us as individuals as well as for the world. A person who has the maturity of age but has still managed to keep the inner child alive is usually someone who will change the world.
Case in point? Albert Einstein, His Holiness The Dalai Lama, Jim Carrey..... You?
