Your Superhero Powers

I don’t have the luxury of being around my two year old grandson nearly as often as I’d like, and so every time I’m with him I marvel at how he approaches his little world.

During the holidays my daughter and I took him to a children’s museum in San Antonio, which had this amazing replica of a grocery store with plastic food and miniature shopping carts. It was nirvana for two year olds!

We were enthralled with his approach to this adventure, getting to act like a big person and shop all by himself. He immediately put six plastic carrots in his cart, along with one box of sausages and four packets of fruit desserts. And he did it nonchalantly, roaming the aisles like he’s been doing it all his life. He never looked around to see if other toddlers were gauging his accuracy or if he were doing it “right.”

Watching him approach something he’s never seen or been allowed to do before with such enthusiasm and abandonment made me think of how much we tend to change our mindset from the resilient, flexible mentality of a two-year-old to our often staid, grown up attitude on life.

Isn’t adaptability and resilience all about approaching something new or unexpected with a sense of excitement and confidence? And if this is an innate ability we all posses (assuming all of us were two years old at one time) then isn’t our job this year to start reminding ourselves we have the ability to change our perspective on change?

Deepak Chopra, in one of his lectures, talks about the ability fleas have to jump two to three feet high. Yet once they are confined for a period of time in a six inch jar, the lid can be removed and they never jump out. They are conditioned to learn and accept limitations.

Let’s look at this New Year as an opportunity to release limitations. Start with the premise that change can be pleasurable, which certainly must be the mantra of every two year old. And if we believe that our ability to be resilient comes from a change in our attitude, then let’s close today’s blog with some fun, “what if” questions:

What if you were six to 10 years old, how could you look at the change you’re facing in this New Year? Could you find it an adventure? Could you be less judgmental of yourself and make one of your resolutions to step a little more outside your comfort zone?

What if you were looking back from the year 2015, what great insights would you share on being the best person you can be this year, and at the same time less fearful of new opportunities and change?

What if a bell rang every time you did something, what would it be? Would it be a validation of doing something you believe in (complimenting a colleague, thinking positive thoughts in a negative situation) or would it be a gentle reminder of what you want to stop doing?

What if you worked for free because you were independently wealthy? What would you do at work (yes, you are still going to work) to encourage others to embrace change? What is your second right answer?

What if one of your jobs this year was to help others at work have more fun, what would you do? Make it mandatory to sing during a morning meeting? Give everyone silly string and let them spray it if they liked someone’s ideas? Run a creativity meeting that encourages thinking outside traditional lines to solve a current problem, and include koosh balls, construction paper and other “toys” to help stimulate creativity?

Finally, what if you chose to gain insight from one other person whom you respect, who would you choose to go to for advice? Would it be a favorite teacher, favorite boss, TV personality, celebrity or someone you admire from history?

Adaptability is an art and a mindset. We find mentally old people everywhere, who think that doing something in a different way is a fundamental crime. Those are the people referred to in the quote “People die in their 20’s, they just wait till their 80’s to be buried.”

And for the rest of us who wish to remain mentally flexible and resilient in our ever-changing world, why not, at least for a little while, try thinking like a two-year-old!