Last night, I was putting my daughter to bed and she was tucked in tightly deep inside a nest of stuffed animals.
She looked blissful, so I asked her a simple question, “Why do you think kids sleep with lots of cozy stuffed animals, but adults don’t.”
And her answer was deep. “Because they don’t pay attention to what they can actually do.”
Adults don’t pay attention to what we can actually do. It’s true.
When we are children, we have no clue what the rules are to this game called life. We don’t know that the world may look upon your talent as an artist may be looked upon differently than your talent at math. We don’t know that surgeons make more money than the cashier at Target. We don’t know that stuffed animals are considered to be just for children.
Kids don’t know any of that. The rules haven’t been written yet.
What an enchanting way to live.
So back to those rules that adults follow.
You don’t have to. Most of those rules come from the land of make believe.
We need to learn to distinguish between “rules” and “norms.”
Get married
Buy a house in the suburbs
Have 1.5 kids
Drive to a corporate office building morning and night like a zombie
Spend your paycheck maintaining your house so it can look like everyone else’s
Get a raise. Get a nicer car.
These aren’t rules. These are norms. You don’t have to follow any of them.
Take time to listen.
Take time to listen to that voice in your head that started as a whisper years ago and has slowly increased in volume. Just so you know, it’ll never get quieter. You can ignore it, sure, but it’s not going to stop.
It may tell you to sell all of your possessions and start a new life in a country where you don’t even know the language.
It may tell you to foster some kids even though you aren’t quite sure you are ready to jump in.
It may tell you to break out of that corporate box or start using your paycheck for paint and canvas instead of throw pillows and knick knacks.
Just listen to it.
You are this weird, unique, amazing combination of talents and experiences that are all smooshed together in a way that has never happened before and will never happen again.
One and done.
Do you truly believe that you were meant to walk the same path and follow the same rules as other people?
Of course you weren’t.
I’m not saying that you need to fill your bed with giant stuffed unicorns and pillows that smell like cotton candy, but you can. Oh yes, my friend, you absolutely can!
You can do a lot of things, if you take a minute to pay attention to what those things are. You did it all the time when you were a kid. You weren’t even aware that it was unusual.
Pay attention.
Be aware.
And then do it.
Image by ALP STUDIO