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Health & Fitness

The Joy of a Child

“One of the most responsible things you can do as an adult is to become more of a child.” Dr. Wayne W Dyer

Last night I had the privilege of being in the audience at the Vacation Bible School wrap-up program.  What fun!  I just loved watching the faces of the children.  Why can’t adults act more like that?

Joy – there was one blond-headed boy who absolutely radiated joy.  With every word and hand motion, he had such a radiance—truly the exemplification of joy!

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Wonder – a tiny boy with huge blue eyes was fascinated with all of the eyes watching him.  He took a while to join in with every song, but it eventually came to him that he was supposed to be participating.  But his primary concern for the program was watching the reaction of the audience.

Concentration – a wee little girl with blond curls had a most serious look upon her face.  She was following along amazingly well for her age, but it was obvious she was focused on remembering everything she had been taught.  (This was me at her age—do the best I can so I can be ‘top of the class.’)

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Ornery – there’s always one in the bunch, right?  There was a red-headed boy standing next to the boy full of joy.  This red head did his best to disrupt the joy of his neighbor—poking, prodding, and every hand motion included an “accidental” touch to his joyful friend’s head.  And eventually, he did diminish his neighbor’s joy—I saw that even though he still was smiling, it was more of a forced smile, and less of a true joy.

I think as adults, we often let those red-headed boys poke and prod us to the point that we lose our joy.  We focus on all of the sinister news, the crime and punishment, the death and destruction—and we forget that there is still good in the world.  Frankly, I quit watching the news many years ago.  99% of the reports were negative and down-heartening—with that one little occasional tidbit of something beautiful that happened.

My challenge to you—look for the beautiful.  Watch the face of a child and try to emulate it.  Try to recapture your joy and live more childlike.

“True joy is that which gives us more energy and makes us feel more alive.”  Robert Puryear

 

Please leave me a comment and tell me what you can do differently to recapture your youthful spirit.

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