Lose the Maturity. Start acting like a kid today!
27 12 2007
I am a big kid. I enjoy playing practical jokes (both administering and receiving), the occasional prank phone call to a fellow employee, and I make a conscious decision everyday to do something I enjoy. I have decided to give up my office job, and this has been one of the best decisions I have made. Business environments are such that the personality of employees are being suppressed constantly until they are mere drones. I have seen this happen to friends, who now resort only to “corporate speak” even in social environments. People are taking themselves much too seriously.
When we were kids, we liked to create, take risks, spend time with friends and enjoy life. As adults, we make an effort to look young but never to act young. In fact, having fun is often looked down upon by “serious” types. Having fun is seen as a “waste of time”. All of the things we used to do as kids to have fun are now regarded as wasteful. Yet acceptable means of fun have somehow transformed into drinking, cigar smoking and the occasional sporting event.
As adults, so few of us are fun anymore. Is it any wonder we find the lifestyle of musicians, artists and actors so attractive? These people have not lost touch with what they enjoyed when they were young.
To give you a little contrast, let me relay some real life experiences working in today’s corporate offices. In my time, I have seen large groups of people quarrel over the layout of technical documentation, a University database administrator who acted like he was in charge of security for the CIA, computer technicians who wore suits and walked around like James Bond, and meetings that overused the words “synergy”, “interface” and a bunch of three letter acronyms. In every case, people are taking themselves way too seriously. Here’s a quick tip: unless you are protecting your country or otherwise donating your time to charity, your job is likely to be pointless. You have convinced yourself of the seriousness of your work to help you get up in the morning, in reality its not important, and that is okay. So lets lose all of the fluff and seriousness that surrounds our day to day activity.
We are not all that important. What is important is that the time we have on this planet is spent enjoyably. Your corporate jargon will mean nothing when you’re six feet under. Look at life the way you did when you were young. Would the younger you quarrel about the layout of technical documentation?
So what is the solution? Start doing the things you did when you were a kid. Paint, play games, play sport non-competitively. Most importantly, bring that attitude to work with you. There are people in your office who need only a single person to show them that work doesn’t have to be all about politics, meetings and productivity training. If you bring your fun attitude to work, perhaps others will follow your lead. You will feel less stressed about work and more confident about who you are. In fact, only after I saw life through a child’s eyes did I have the courage to follow a different path to my work colleagues. I hope that you can do the same. You may do what you can to look youthful, now its time to start acting that way.
I agree 100%, took me a while to figure that out, now that I have it is definitely the road less traveled by everyone, somewhere along the way we forget we’ve only got one chance at this, and try to die out on top, when really all we need to do is die knowing that the life we lived was full, meaningful and that you will always be remembered by the few that loved and cared about you
Mike: Exceptionally said. You summarised my point in a single paragraph. I am glad to hear that you have discovered this in your own life as well. I have certainly suffered a lot less stress, and enjoyed life so much more when I stopped focussing on careers. I used this energy instead to improve my relationship with friends and family. After all, that is all that really matters.
I love this way of thinking. I think that I may almost be too much of a kid sometimes, I find ways of making any situation funny, but I agree that most people are thinking about someday I after I get this and this done, then I will have fun and enjoy life, that’s lame. Live life, enjoy be passionate and be yourself.
I lament the fact that an adult re discovering fun is a noble and brilliant thing.
Yet a child who never loses this sense of fun is “Immature” and “Hasnt grown up”. Two phrases I hear most often.
Well, Im trying to bring old time fun back, so I dont care.
Ill continue being weird and having fun.
After all, it works for me.