Children seem to have it all: they eat, they sleep, they play, they study a little, and nowhere in sight is there a care or worry to disturb them. This is without even mentioning the endless potential of childhood: being raw and unformed, able to develop, grow and blossom into anything if you put your mind to it. It's a level of blissful satisfaction with life and the simplicity thereof that's impossible to achieve for any grown person... Or is it? They say that deep down there's a little kid in all of us, clamoring to be heard. Well, since kids with their fuzzy socks and their imaginary spaceships seem to have it all figured out, why not listen to that one in particular more often? Aren't fuzzy socks available for men too? Aren't there women's fuzzy socks to be found out there in? Here are a few tips on letting your inner child get out a bit more and getting back into your metaphorical fuzzy socks (or your actual fuzzy socks if you're into it - they really are the ultimate investment). Because happiness and freedom from stress are things that everyone deserves, not just the children.
Let yourself be yourself
This one sounds like a bad cliché, but it's true. Self-censorship is something that society demands of us too often, and being the exact person you are is something nobody else in the world will ever be able to do as well as you. Relax a little, give yourself the time and opportunities to enjoy who you are and the experiences you go through; make an effort to go through some new ones and dare to be optimistic about their outcome - they might just turn out to be something you didn't even know you'd like. Take that positivity and channel it. Never tried dancing before? Do it now. Always thought bowling looked fun, but never gave it a try? This is your chance. Try to approach the boring and mundane tasks and obligations in your life from a new angle - see if you can't find a way to enjoy them too and enhance them with some small dose of joy and fun, especially things like cleaning up around the house or cooking (maybe for someone you love and care about).
Get reacquainted with your inner child
Set yourself the goal of travelling back in time to your younger days - not literally of course, but by doing the things you used to love but somehow or for some reason or other gave up in the past. Make a list of these things and try them out one by one, and see if you can't rekindle some of the happiness they used to bring you. Things like sports especially, even just kicking and tossing a ball around the park and pretending you're a world-class football player in your world-class football shoes can activate both your endorphins and your imagination and have a wonderfully positive effect (for added effect, see if you can get the same kind of football socks your childhood football hero wore – those socks are rarely expensive, so they're a great low-budget way to relive those days). Or, go and climb a tree shod in nothing but your thick, fuzzy climbing socks and revel in the mixed feelings of excitement, fear and those neglected muscles pulling you up higher and higher.
Don't take no for an answer
Children have a hard time accepting it when someone refuses their requests or demands. Obviously throwing temper-tantrums, screaming and throwing your socks at people when you don't get your way is neither mature nor advisable, but what if you honestly feel like you're being done wrong? Or that you're being unappreciated somehow? Or that some situation is just simply unfair? Well, make that feeling known. Clothe yourself in the cloak of calmness and tell whoever it is that you disagree. Embrace the suit of maturity and explain why, and don't settle for less than you feel that you deserve. Don the jacket of realism and evaluate yourself; if somebody else is undervaluing you, don't just put up with it, fight for your right.
Speak the truth
Another seemingly obvious one, but here we must ask ourselves: how often do we keep the truth secret in order to protect someone's feelings? Or maybe the real question is: how often do we lie to keep ourselves from feeling bad or awkward? Children are born without this social filter; if they think somebody might be doing something wrong, they'll say so without hesitation. Others can easily react to this by being offended, so choose your words carefully, but make sure that they're truthful; make it known you're not trying to cause offense, but to help a person by offering your own perspective, advice and experience.
Be free to create
The majority of children are hugely creative. Think back to your own childhood: how much did you draw, paint, write? Even if it was just about what you had seen or felt that day, but described through your own senses and not what someone else told you they were like? How often did you color, in and out of the lines of the picture in the coloring book, without caring about their limitations? Find yourself an outlet, a method of creative and artistic expression. It can be up to you to share with someone close to you, or keep all to yourself; as long as it's making you and happy and not hurting anyone, there is no wrong choice.
Learn to forgive
Grudges are a dead weight. They do nothing but drag us down deeper and deeper into negativity, and yet as we grow it becomes second nature to us to hold onto them tightly and not forget about them ever. Children don't do this; it's not uncommon for children to be friendly one moment, playing together in their fuzzy socks peacefully and then have an argument over some banal issue the next, turning their normally peaceful fuzzy socks into fluffy, deadly weapons... only to forgive each other a minute later and resume playing. Think carefully about the grudges you hold; are they really worth the stress and negativity they bring to you? Or is it time to let them go and let yourself be happy by focusing on the more positive things in your life (like fuzzy socks)? Once you do let go, you might find yourself surprised by how much you have to be happy about.
Let that kid with the toys and the fuzzy socks and the endless imagination take over once in a while. It'll do you both some good.