Kids learn at the pace of a rocket, their world constantly changing and expanding, but eventually, as they become adults, tragically, that slows down.
This process—of plateauing into adulthood—let’s call it Faking It.
Because that’s what happens. As we become adolescents, we find out that we don’t like getting caught with our pants around our ankles. We’d rather build walls and pretend and trick ourselves into believing that we have it figured out than admit that sometimes we don’t.
Funny enough, sometimes adults hit “rock bottom” by finding out they don’t actually know it all.
Why did they ever think they did anyway?
Kids have it more figured out than we do.
To be like children is not a bad thing. Jesus says it is the way to the Kingdom of God.
But there is a big difference between childishness and child-likeness.
Adults who are childish are pathetic; adults who are child-like are inspiring, deep, and great.
So what happens to kids to turn them into stale adults?
First, we have to see that responsibility, while a very healthy and good thing, brings with it baggage. Responsibility means you have to have it all figured out—or so we’re told.
Responsibility shuts down all the “what-ifs”. No father ever wanted to hear his future son-in-law tell him he wasn’t sure where his income would come from.
Responsibility means we have to make up our minds.
Which works great because we are naturally proud, us adults. We want to look like we have it all figured out. That’s why it is our natural, normal disposition to block out what we don’t know and focus on thing we do know. We literally overlook and sweep away things we don’t understand.
But that means all we really see is what we’ve always ever seen.
The world becomes 2D, flat, boring, stale. Nothing particularly new.
So while kids are always discovering new things, adults are constantly reliving the same old story. We already know everything.
And we wonder why humans on the cusp of adulthood are the ones most depressed.
But what if we captured some of that child-like innocence and applied it to the way we live?
How far could we go if we all were honest about what we didn’t know?
I’ve come up with an exercise personally that helps combat this adult-is Faking It.
At every moment, ask yourself, “Have I experienced this exact thing before? Have I seen this before? If so, when?”
I have found that every day, I experience or see something for the first time in my life.
The first time I realized that peanuts don’t grow on trees was embarrassingly late.
The first time I experienced a serious market downturn and a recovery was just yesterday.
The first time I had a toasted pimento cheese sandwich with bacon on it was at Jessie’s downtown, not long ago.
These are experiences that the adult in me is tempted to brush aside as just “another day” in the life but the inner child in me is ready to cherish and wallow in, if I’ll just give him the chance.
If we lose this day-to-day wonder in the newness and variety of life, we will become the boring thing we’re so afraid of.
After all, there is no such thing as a boring life, only boring people.