Where Is Your Inner Child?

When I was a kid there was only ever one thing on my mind...play.  I lived next-door to my best friend and my two other best friends were within walking distance.  We roamed the neighbourhood on bikes, skateboards and on foot but we didn't cause any trouble, other than the time I got kicked out of 5 O's for looking at a porn magazine.  That's a story for another time.  The point is my life revolved around playing. 



What do I mean when I say playing?  Well, let me break it down.  There was Lego, dinky cars, G.I. Joe, Transformers, Gobots, Battle Beasts, Micro Machines, train sets, race cars, Care Bears, Cabbage Patch Dolls, Barbie, and probably more.  Then there was sports that included hockey (our fav), basketball, baseball, football, soccer, and of course WWF style wrestling with the one friend everyone was scared to wrestle (my friend's cousin in our case).  There was also video games from Commodore 64, Atari, NES, Super NES and the arcade, of course.  The normal outdoor adventures swimming, running, biking, skateboarding, and anything else we were allowed.  Pretend was also huge for us playing army men, policemen (CHiPS), house, or famous rockers putting on a concert.  Our go to rockers were Def Leopard and...Tiffany...yes "I think we are alone now" Tiffany.  And just exploring was another part of our play, seeing what we could discover and how far we could go. 

It was an amazing childhood with no real issues other than school, church and meals getting in the way of playing.  In fact, my easy going attitude with dealing with what they believe is Crohns is because food has always simply been a source of fuel for doing everything else.  I always have said growing up, the day I die is the day my inner child dies.  It was into my 40's before that reached the depth of feeling like I had lost most of who I was.  Then we started our own business and we were bosses of our own destiny.  It has been a slow process but I've been reclaiming that kid inside of me.  Moving to the country has been a huge factor getting back to a sense of awe around me in nature.  Something about fresh air and open spaces that invigorates the soul.  




I also have found a piece of me in our business interacting with people in a childlike excitement over the products we sell, I love sharing about our business.  Let's be honest with ourselves in that our work, our relationships, our families, our world can be a great burden of stress and worry.  It doesn't mean you don't love those things, in fact, I think it's because we love those things they cause us stress.  They say laughter is the best medicine and I believe in this area that is very true.  So I've decided that moving forward I am going to intentionally try to laugh, love and live more.  



The world is a mess right now, we all know it.  What makes the difference is how we respond to that mess.  Find the joy, the humour, the beauty in the world and don't give the rest much attention other than what's essential.  We will, of course, attempt our best to be honest about our lives along with the challenges we face, meaning not every post will be positive, humorous or happy, but I hope you see the kid in me shine through most of the time.