Grow Up ! Act Your Age !

Grow up !   Act your age !

Did you hear words like that as a child ?  I did; and, I grew up to be a responsible father and successful business leader.  But, the inner child didn't go away.  

Each of us wears a persona, an outward representation of what others expect of us, what we want the outside world to see.

My 89 year old mother often told me that, though outside she was an old woman, inside she felt like a little girl.   Her generation was more guarded than that of today; but there were times that little girl, usually in moments of mischief or gest, showed herself.

I was raised in a military family where  discipline and responsibility were paramount.  It carried me through adulthood; but my children knew my secret.  Inside, there was a little boy wanting to play.   Family is most important and for them my inner feelings were not hidden.

I recall walking down a main street in the nations capital in uniform with gold braid, carrying my briefcase, hand-in-hand with my little daughter.   Suddenly we began to skip, hand-in-hand down the street.  Public persona be damned for my children.

As we near our senior years we are sometimes able to free ourselves from the need to suppress our inner selves and let that playful spirit show itself.   Sometimes others, comfortable in the adult they have known, try to suppress it.  Again, we are told to act our age, not to act like a silly old man / woman.  Why should we ?  Freedom now !

A pensioner and, this year, officially a senior, I am friends with my inner self.   I easily get down on the floor with my grand-children and I've been known to be sitting  under a table at a restaurant playing with them.  It is so much fun to play again and to be somewhat of a clown.

Today I am exploring a new world, discovering new countries, new friends and experiences, learning a new language, zip lining mountain to mountain high above valleys below, lifting off a mountain-side to fly high on a parachute above the Pacific Ocean and climbing into and out of a volcano.  My youthful spirit is alive, well and will no longer be hidden.   This is my time to play.  Life has never been more wonderful.

Look inside yourself.   Find the child within you and make it free.  You will be happy to have done so.