We Can Learn A Lot From Kids

If you’ve ever spent some time with young children - whether they are your own, your friends, nieces, nephews, grandkids – you know that there are a few key concepts that you can pick up from them right away.

First and foremost is that they are brutally honest!

This can be good or bad, depending on the social situation.

I remember the first time my daughter looked me right in the eye and said....


“Daddy, what are you wearing? You look disgusting.”

She was right, but she didn’t need to say so!!!

Now, I’m not suggesting we all walk around telling people they look disgusting, but what we can learn from this is that we shouldn’t hide who we truly are and what we truly feel just to please others.

I’m proud of my daughter for sharing her true feelings and I also would have seen right through her if she had lied and told me that I looked good. I run across this a lot, both professionally and socially, where people are more inclined to tell you what you want to hear, rather than tell you the truth.

We believe that if we can say or do things to make others happy, it will satisfy our need to feel accepted. The truth is, if we aren’t happy with ourselves and truthful with ourselves, we can never truly feel accepted. Deep down we will always feel as if we are putting on an act, attempting to be something that we are not.

We must strive to feel comfortable enough within ourselves to speak the truth and project our true feelings. Only then can others accept us for who we truly are. Now, you need to know that you may ruffle a few feathers initially, but the long term benefit of being truthful with yourself and others far outweighs the risk of losing your identity.

Something else I’ve learned from children is their absolute joy over the “little things” in life.

If you don’t believe me or have never experienced this before, find a little boy, say 3 or 4 years old and ask them if they like trucks. They’ll usually say yes.

Then point one out that’s driving down the street and watch their eyes grow as big as watermelons. It’s like they’ve never seen it before. The excitement is infectious, it makes you want to be a kid again.

We get so caught up in the day to day grind that we lose track of the little things that happen around us and the joy that they bring. I challenge you to spend the next 10 minutes and just think about every experience you have had over the last 24 hours.

How many of these things truly brought joy to your heart? What excited you today?

Who said something to you or acted in a way that made you truly happy?

If you’re having a problem coming up with any answers to this question, then you’re not paying enough attention to what’s going on around you.

It’s time to slow life down, “smell the roses,” remember what it was like to be a kid again.

Retrain your mind, body and spirit to fell the joy in life.