Grow up? Why?

I won’t grow up,

I don’t want to go to school.

Just to learn to be a parrot,

And recite a silly rule.

If growing up means

It would be beneath my dignity to climb a tree,

I’ll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up

Not me!

- From “Peter Pan” (Jule Styne/ Carolyn Leigh/Mark “Moose” Charlap)

Do we really have to grow up? Is it a good thing? What does it actually mean, to “grow up?”

If it means taking responsibility for everything, carrying everything on our shoulders, making sure we discipline ourselves to a schedule every day and “act like an adult” (whatever that means), then I think I’m with Peter.

Once we believe that everything comes down to us—our decisions, our actions, our behavior, etc.—we’ve already put ourselves into a tight little box. Boxes are dark inside, which means that the light can’t get in.

Remember when we were little kids? What did we do? We played. Yep, and it was serious business, too. But not the way we think of serious business as so-called adults. We were curious, eager, filled with wonder, ready to try something new, generally unafraid, and ready to have fun. But as time went by, all of that changed…

“You’re gown up now…it’s time to act your age! What are you going to do with the rest of your life?” If we didn’t have some kind of schedule worked out to the grave, then we were judged as irresponsible, immature, even lazy.

I ask you: Where’s the fun in that?

Recently I’ve had the eye-opening experience of becoming more like a little child, just trusting that my spiritual intuition will lead me rather than my human reasoning, and guess what? Not only am I a lot happier and more relaxed, I’m actually getting a lot more done—and having more fun doing it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJ8nPYSNobg

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