When We Were Kids

 

This summer, I spent many evenings with my friend and his group of remote controlled airplane pilots at Mussel Rock Park in Pacifica. Most of them are retired and are fortunate enough to spend most of their days gazing out to the ocean, fixing model airplanes and helicopters, barbecuing, befriending the wild coyotes 😳, and chatting it up with random folks in the park. I envied their lifestyle as I just started a full time job working forty hours a week and barely has leisure time. 

Have you ever noticed when people are retired they tend to take up their pastime hobbies? Whether it be remote control airplanes or boats, fishing, or just sitting silently outside for long periods of time and observing nature, we all return to the activities we enjoyed when we were in our youth; but now with a bit more wealth and money to fund even the most expensive of toys and have the time for it. 

When we were kids, we had no fear of the world. We are excited to learn, to build, destroy, and create. We are excited to try new things. We flew model planes, launched rockets, did crazy tricks on our bikes and skateboards (and got injured a lot). I didn’t have a computer or phone growing up; I spent most of my time outside of school skateboarding with my neighborhood friends. We did dumb things, got hurt, got scolded by our parents, and we learned to never do it again. We didn’t know any better but we certainly knew how to have a good time and enjoy ourselves. 

We held no biases and had no prejudice. We didn’t see race or ethnicity, stereotypes, gender, class, religious or political preferences. Do you really think little kids are like, omg, your skin is a different color than me, I’m going to treat you differently now… 

NO! 🤦🏻‍♂️

All that mattered was: will you play with me? 

Only when we got older we started putting labels on each other like race and gender. 

It wasn’t hard to get along with one another when everyone was just having fun. Because we just wanted to have fun. We just want to play. We just want to learn. We had a wild imagination and everything was a game. We were full of energy and excitement.

As we get older, as we take on more responsibilities, we get caught up in all the seriousness of society and our business. We often forget what it’s like being young and alive and the recreational activities we enjoy the most. All the while the stress from work and managing our complex lives ages us faster. Don’t we just want to enjoy our lives at the end of the day?

I’ve learned the best approach to life is to never take anything that seriously, because you’ll just get unnecessary stress and anxiety. Keep it light and fun. Always. Our kids teach us how to do that the best. 

I’ll always feel a sense of exhilaration watching an airplane zoom above my head, hearing the horn of a freight train passing by, or opening a new box of Legos. Just like the eighty year old who shows up at the lake every day and casts a fishing rod, or the retiree who decided to take up painting again, or the R/C pilots at the park, it’s a reminder that we are all still kids at heart. 

 

November 1, 2018 | Philosophies
Inspired by BE