Like a Child
Only children grow
Growth is hidden in learning to be like a child again.
Have you ever wondered why, as a child, it seemed like you could remember things quicker, assimilate better, and be a better student in school? Have you ever paused to think why it is that the younger you are, the better you are mentally, and even in almost every area of your life?
It's not immediately obvious, but it isn't because you are "getting old" or your mind is "getting rusty" from a lot of use. No. It is because, the younger you are, the closer you are to connecting to that person you were as a child.
There are old people today who are almost child-like. They assimilate things just as they did when they were kids. They relate with people with all the genuineness and sincerity you would find in children. They have learned it as an art.
The simple message in this newsletter: Be like a child. See like a child. Learn like a child. Think like a child. Believe like a child. Trust like a child. But act like an adult.
Be like a child.
There is a reason why that powerful son of God some 2000+ years ago said that it is only if you turn and become like little children that you can enter the kingdom of God. To be like a child is to go back to your purest, most genuine state before all that's caused you to move from that naivety happened.
Some time ago, I heard someone say that we are not our true selves anymore. We have experienced a lot of horror in life that has caused us to move from the passionate children we were into the cynical adults that we are today. We have experienced disbelief, betrayal, heartbreak, disrespect, loss, pain, failure, and all the different tragedy.
You need to work through those emotions and take back that genuineness you had before it all happened. Work your way back to being a child.
See like a child
In all simplicity. What a child sees, that's what he sees. He's not looking for anything deeper than what he's seeing. To a child, a pencil is a pencil. When it breaks, it is to be sharpened. If a child likes you, then he will ask you to be his friend. If you say you like them, they'd ask why. If they don't like what they see, they won't try to be politically correct. They will tell you they don't. Children take everything they see at face value.
I understand the need to try to be deep, to disbelieve all things, and to search for the deeper meaning in everything. It's adult-like, and it also has its moment, but start first to take everything at face value, like a child. That way, you won't assume what leads you to disillusionment and destructive tendencies.
Learn like a child.
Actually, the only way you can learn is if you assume the position of a child. A child doesn't know anything. A child is a plain, empty canvas that needs to be filled with all the knowledge there is. When you want to learn anything, ask yourself, how can I learn this like a child?
There is only one answer: You learn it afresh, clear out all you think you know, and prepare to change your mind upon new, superior information.
Children are flexible. They are not scared to ask questions. They expect that you know they don't know. They are not embarrassed to be ignorant. They are not scared to change their minds. They ask what you'd consider the stupidest questions, and because of that genuineness, people are inclined to answer. And then they learn something new.
This is how they absorb information like a sponge and excitedly go out to practice what they have learned.
It is only adults who try to learn things from a place of pre-existing knowledge. Nothing is truly learned that way.
Trust like a child
A child doesn't go around thinking the world is out to get him. You would never find a cynical disbelieving child. Believe like a child. Trust that everyone you meet has your best interests at heart. Would that be correct? No, but it will inform your genuine actions. If you think everyone has your best interest at heart, you will give your best and have their best interest at heart.
However, if you feel like everyone is out there trying to pull one over your head, you would be in an inadvertent defense mode, and even worse, you could try to get the better of them first before they think of doing the same to you. Which makes you end up being the bad guy.
Will you be burned when you try this? Guaranteed. But whether or not you try to trust like a child, you will be burned regardless. Learn from it like a child. Welcome all human experiences, they will teach you so much, and while you learn and absorb, still make the decision to remain a child.
In all, even as you think like a child, act like an adult. As you go on to be like a child, learn like a child, see like a child, and believe like a child, you must act like an adult by making the right decisions. The major difference between a child and an adult is that while children can't entirely conceive the consequences of actions, choices, and decisions, adults can, and based on that knowledge, they can decide to act differently to get different, better results.
Remember, just as it is easier for these little ones to enter into the kingdom of God than for people who claim to be adults in thoughts and learning, the same way, it is a lot easier for children to grow and transform into better versions of themselves than it is for people who believe they are adults and feel like they have learned and grown all there is to grow.
Only children grow.
To your growth,
Your coach,
Abiola Okunsanya,
Handzinspired. ✨
Thank you, sir! 👏🏾