What Would The 6 Year Old Me Say…?

I have found it to be very refreshing when needing to put things into perspective and weighing my current situations in life with just one simple question… What Would My 6 Year Old Self Say About Me Right Now?

I think it is ancillary to the self - checking up our own status in life and where we are at. With status, I am not implying prestige - but merely the position in which we can claim ourselves to have achieved a satisfactory level of self-fulfillment in our paths.

It would be incredibly dejecting if one day you get up from your bed, you stare at yourself in the mirror and you see an adult that you do not fully recognize, destitute of any dreams, goals, ambitions walking like a zombie to their 9-5 corporate job - entangled in a rudimentary existence.

When we are kids we imagine adulthood to be liberating. In fact, we cannot wait to grow up so we could be set free. We always saw them roaming free and as a life destination. At the minimum, that is how I saw the adults in my surroundings.

I remember thinking to myself ‘Wow, they get to do what they want - when they want it - however they want it’

Needless to say, there were many, many things little Johnny boy was clueless about. Young Johnny did not see how many individuals were seething in melancholy, sadness, stress, pressure, depression and riding the waves of life. Both good and bad. It just wasn't easy for them.

I remember when I was a teenager - I mocked so many adults for being incapable of achieving their potential. I must confess - I did see them beneath me and their apparent mistakes boosted my self-confidence. Kinda twisted, ain’t it?

Until I grew up...

And now - I understand the behemoth that life can really be. As per usual, it is both good and bad.

It is virtually overwhelming. We are overwhelmed. This is why we need to tap into the energy of the ethereal 6 year old that is ensnared in our adult bodies. He/She is still there. Mum. Muted. Perhaps scared. Perhaps forgotten in the backburner. But it’s there. And it manifests to us through sorrow, despair, and senses of despondency as well as pure joy - thrill and excitement.

If you ever feel lost (which I know you do because; Who Doesn’t?) try to reminisce back on what did your younger self want to do when he/she grows up. Chances are - it is still there for the waiting. It is still there for a possible prospect to express itself with adult means. Please do not suppress it. You are hurting yourself. Let it come out. And use your analytical adult skills to make it become a reality.

We unquestionably live such short life spans. We are meaningless in terms of time. I just remembered that when I used to go to the Kingdom Hall as a Jehovah Witness, there was this song we often sang - “that life is like vapor, it appears and then it disappears.” Here we are now… 5 years later after I quit the religion and its beliefs, I find myself agreeing on this one.

We waste our precious seconds/minutes/hours/days of our lives running the rat race. The race to the bottom. We forgot who we are and what we wanted. Languishing brusquely lingers on our psyche. We put on a tough front. We lie to ourselves that we are doing ok - we are doing just fine (we say) Until we are not. And it shows. Because I see all of us in the streets every day. I live in the City of Angels but more and more it sounds like this is the city of the ‘Lost Angels and Lost Souls’ along with most of the world.

What are we doing y’all?

Is our 6 year old self proud of us?

Are we proud of us?