Be Childish

Everybody starts to seek a meaning for their life at some point. It’s an instinctive and natural research: we need to know if there’s a reason for our existence, we need a path to follow, we need an object to accomplish.

But our desires remain rarely the same through the course of the years—we could almost say that our lives are nothing more than finite sequences of goals. I’m going to get a job, I’m going to get married, I’m going to buy a house, and so on and so forth for ninety years.

I don’t think there’s something fundamentally wrong with this approach. Having clear expectations and desires can only be good for the mind.

However, when our present goal becomes our whole universe, we’re doomed. We lose clarity and focus and our sole priority is succeeding at what we’re doing. Now, sometimes we do succeed—those are the best days of our lives. In those days, we’re powerful and invincible.

But sometimes we don’t, and it’s a living hell. How would you react if you failed the goal of a lifetime? I know people who suffered from mild depression because of their inability to accomplish their objectives.

What’s the key to happiness, then? Obviously, it’s impossible to succeed at everything we do. Shall we abandon our goals, then? Of course not: goals, even the smallest ones, are what keeps us in motion.

Here’s what I propose.

Be childish.

1. Children are easily fascinated and distracted.
2. Children are the center of their own universe. They’re not subject to external authorities or expectations.
3. Children exist because they want to exist, not because they can’t do otherwise or because they’re too weak to give up living.
4. Children quickly regain their joy even after a long, desperate cry.
5. Children put all their energy into every effort they make.
6. Children overcome failure by moving on to the next action. Ironically enough, they don’t cry all day because their toy broke.
7. Children are happy because they’re alive. They fully experience the miracle of existence.