It's an universal fact that most people, regardless of where they live & their economic conditions, acknowledge their childhood as
the finest part of their lives. It was in this particular phase of life when
they experienced the most happiness, joy & hope. But ever wondered
what exactly made our childhood so glorious? Is it because we didn't
have much responsibility or work?
Personally, I don't think that's true. I believe the joy we experience in our childhood isn't just the result of a particular time in our lives but the result of a particular mindset or perspective that we all possess back in our childhood. As our behavior largely flows out of our perceptions, it's the simpler & more empowering perceptions that we all have in our childhood which makes us feel & behave in such joyful ways.
As we all know, there's literally a world of difference between the perspective of a child & an adult. Generally, a child looks at something & says “I will ” whereas an adult may look at the same thing & go--”I can't”. Now is it because an adult can see the limitations of his/ her own more clearly than a child? Well, limitations are always there, whether we can see it or not, but to think that our limitations are greater than our innate capacity is ultimately a question of perspective. And that's why, when we grow up, we become 'held back' mostly because of our perspective of the world and ourselves, which tells us that we aren't good enough and inadequate.
But if you look closely, it is actually in our childhood when we were the most limited & dependent, in almost every possible ways. And yet, it was in our childhood when we felt the most empowerment and were most certain of our abilities, more than we did in all other phases of Life. How? Because of the same reason--in our childhood, all of us had an innate perception of both ourselves and the world that made us truly fearless and more open to Life. After all, we see the world not as it is, but as we are----or, as we are conditioned to see it.
But as we grow up, layers upon layers of dis-empowering 'scripts' & conditioning are introduced in our psyche. Scripts such as scarcity mindedness, compulsory acceptance of our peers & competitiveness are among those. The (subconscious) message that these scripts give us is that we're not intrinsically lovable, our sense of worth always lies in comparison with everyone else & there is only so much out there for us so we have no choice but to compete with one another to get the 'most' out of the 'World'. Or else, we'll be 'left behind' by 'everyone else'.
As anyone can see, these 'scripts' are not only incorrect, they're downright harmful and Life-destructive. And when the vulnerable mind of a child is 'hardwired' with these scripts from an early age, they'll not grow up to be the same joyful and loving persons that they were back in their childhoods. It's no wonder our current Civilization ranks as the single most Life-threatening entity in all of recorded history.
These scripts come from many sources--the education system, which always emphasizes on fierce competition rather than friendly co-operation, from our society in general which is largely about 'minding your own business' or 'climbing the social ladder' and lastly, from our parents (in most cases, at least).
Now a child who is emotionally vulnerable & dependent, is easily molded, shaped & finally programmed into these thought patterns throughout the years. And as we reach our adulthood, our perceptions of reality and everyone around us become firmly embedded in these mental scripts. Our natural intuition about ourselves, our innate potential, the World & Life gets buried deep under those layers of 'learned' scripts.
We are also introduced to certain 'standards' & 'benchmarks' (like achieving a certain percentage of marks in an examination) that we 'must' live up to & if we can't, certain opportunities or future possibilities will be denied to us (not being able to attend a major University, College or a Job) & our sense of worth will be diminished (in the eyes of our 'peers'). Out of disappointment, we even beat ourselves up emotionally and physically when we 'fail' to reach those 'Life objectives' or 'missions' that society hands out to us. And in this way, we also learn fear--the fear of being ridiculed by our peers, of withdrawal of love from our parents and finally the fear of being 'abandoned' by all others.
Back in our childhood, our sense of fear was purely physical--falling from a high enough place and getting hurt, which is pretty natural but as we 'grow up', we start to realize emotional fear--the many ways that we might get hurt, from pretty much everyone in around us. And suddenly, the world doesn't seem as joyous and innocent as it did back in our childhood. When we reach this point, it's literally the beginning of childhood's end.
Sometimes, as a subconscious response to those fears, we tend to build emotional walls around our psyches. Of course, a defensive mind can neither be creative nor co-operative. And as a result, we get even more 'shelled-in', from Life and the world. As you can guess, that's a recipe for even more unhappiness and bitterness.
By the time we reach adulthood, most of us remain completely unaware of this 'mind-sculpting' process that we have undergone throughout the decades. While it may be difficult to realize that our minds & thoughts were 'invaded' and 'shaped up' by external, dis-empowering patterns since our childhood, the more we think about how everything, including ourselves, have changed throughout the years, we begin to see through it clearly.
When we take a good look at some of the most fundamental truths that have triumphed through all Human history, we'll find that almost all of the thought patterns that we were 'taught' since school days, about ourselves and the World, are false and outright lies. The fact is--our values and self worth are always within us and can never be diminished or 'taken away', peaceful and collective co-operation is one of the most powerful forces on Earth and there is always plenty for all of us in the World.
In light of these self-evident truths, it's easier to see through the deceptions that were once ingrained in our minds. And as our awareness about the false generalizations in our own psyches increases, we naturally begin to peel through it's layers and question them. After that it becomes only a matter of time before all those 'learned' generalizations and thought patterns crumble and fall like any physical structure in the real world.
All of this is just my opinion & I'm eager to know yours. Please let me know in the comments section.
Personally, I don't think that's true. I believe the joy we experience in our childhood isn't just the result of a particular time in our lives but the result of a particular mindset or perspective that we all possess back in our childhood. As our behavior largely flows out of our perceptions, it's the simpler & more empowering perceptions that we all have in our childhood which makes us feel & behave in such joyful ways.
As we all know, there's literally a world of difference between the perspective of a child & an adult. Generally, a child looks at something & says “I will ” whereas an adult may look at the same thing & go--”I can't”. Now is it because an adult can see the limitations of his/ her own more clearly than a child? Well, limitations are always there, whether we can see it or not, but to think that our limitations are greater than our innate capacity is ultimately a question of perspective. And that's why, when we grow up, we become 'held back' mostly because of our perspective of the world and ourselves, which tells us that we aren't good enough and inadequate.
But if you look closely, it is actually in our childhood when we were the most limited & dependent, in almost every possible ways. And yet, it was in our childhood when we felt the most empowerment and were most certain of our abilities, more than we did in all other phases of Life. How? Because of the same reason--in our childhood, all of us had an innate perception of both ourselves and the world that made us truly fearless and more open to Life. After all, we see the world not as it is, but as we are----or, as we are conditioned to see it.
But as we grow up, layers upon layers of dis-empowering 'scripts' & conditioning are introduced in our psyche. Scripts such as scarcity mindedness, compulsory acceptance of our peers & competitiveness are among those. The (subconscious) message that these scripts give us is that we're not intrinsically lovable, our sense of worth always lies in comparison with everyone else & there is only so much out there for us so we have no choice but to compete with one another to get the 'most' out of the 'World'. Or else, we'll be 'left behind' by 'everyone else'.
As anyone can see, these 'scripts' are not only incorrect, they're downright harmful and Life-destructive. And when the vulnerable mind of a child is 'hardwired' with these scripts from an early age, they'll not grow up to be the same joyful and loving persons that they were back in their childhoods. It's no wonder our current Civilization ranks as the single most Life-threatening entity in all of recorded history.
These scripts come from many sources--the education system, which always emphasizes on fierce competition rather than friendly co-operation, from our society in general which is largely about 'minding your own business' or 'climbing the social ladder' and lastly, from our parents (in most cases, at least).
Now a child who is emotionally vulnerable & dependent, is easily molded, shaped & finally programmed into these thought patterns throughout the years. And as we reach our adulthood, our perceptions of reality and everyone around us become firmly embedded in these mental scripts. Our natural intuition about ourselves, our innate potential, the World & Life gets buried deep under those layers of 'learned' scripts.
We are also introduced to certain 'standards' & 'benchmarks' (like achieving a certain percentage of marks in an examination) that we 'must' live up to & if we can't, certain opportunities or future possibilities will be denied to us (not being able to attend a major University, College or a Job) & our sense of worth will be diminished (in the eyes of our 'peers'). Out of disappointment, we even beat ourselves up emotionally and physically when we 'fail' to reach those 'Life objectives' or 'missions' that society hands out to us. And in this way, we also learn fear--the fear of being ridiculed by our peers, of withdrawal of love from our parents and finally the fear of being 'abandoned' by all others.
Back in our childhood, our sense of fear was purely physical--falling from a high enough place and getting hurt, which is pretty natural but as we 'grow up', we start to realize emotional fear--the many ways that we might get hurt, from pretty much everyone in around us. And suddenly, the world doesn't seem as joyous and innocent as it did back in our childhood. When we reach this point, it's literally the beginning of childhood's end.
Sometimes, as a subconscious response to those fears, we tend to build emotional walls around our psyches. Of course, a defensive mind can neither be creative nor co-operative. And as a result, we get even more 'shelled-in', from Life and the world. As you can guess, that's a recipe for even more unhappiness and bitterness.
By the time we reach adulthood, most of us remain completely unaware of this 'mind-sculpting' process that we have undergone throughout the decades. While it may be difficult to realize that our minds & thoughts were 'invaded' and 'shaped up' by external, dis-empowering patterns since our childhood, the more we think about how everything, including ourselves, have changed throughout the years, we begin to see through it clearly.
When we take a good look at some of the most fundamental truths that have triumphed through all Human history, we'll find that almost all of the thought patterns that we were 'taught' since school days, about ourselves and the World, are false and outright lies. The fact is--our values and self worth are always within us and can never be diminished or 'taken away', peaceful and collective co-operation is one of the most powerful forces on Earth and there is always plenty for all of us in the World.
In light of these self-evident truths, it's easier to see through the deceptions that were once ingrained in our minds. And as our awareness about the false generalizations in our own psyches increases, we naturally begin to peel through it's layers and question them. After that it becomes only a matter of time before all those 'learned' generalizations and thought patterns crumble and fall like any physical structure in the real world.
And as we begin to erase those external layers from our psyche, our natural perception, the empowering, co-operating & the joyous perspective of Life that made everything look and feel so glorious back in
our childhood, will emerge by itself, cause that's already in us. But now, we will be returning to that worldview or perspective with a high degree of experience and wisdom, as a direct result of our increased awareness
of Life and the World.
To sum it all up in as few words as possible--what really made our childhood so much joyful was the natural perception towards Life that all of us are born with. The moment we have that molded & shaped by external
forces against our will, it's the moment we begin to leave our childhood behind. But as Dr. Manhattan in The Watchmen said----”Nothing ever ends”, it's true. We can always return to what's inside of us.
All of this is just my opinion & I'm eager to know yours. Please let me know in the comments section.
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