When I was 11 I couldn’t wait to be 30, because then I could be just like Face from the A-Team.  Flirting, conning people out of their speedboat and saving a small Mexican village would be daily occurrences.

Or so I thought.  The reality of being a grown up is somewhat different.

Bills.  Property maintenance.  Career management.  Decreasing health.  Transport issues.  Responsibility.

I’m sure the Faceman didn’t have to deal with that stuff when he was “surviving in the Los Angeles underground”.

Being a grown-up has its up-sides, like air miles and swanky bars, and when you get it right responsibility is just about being happy making decisions, but on balance I think it’s much better to be a kid.  That’s what I want to be when I grow up.

Kids have imaginations that create worlds.

Kids act silly even when times are tough.

Kids believe themselves to be indestructible.

Kids are always ready to laugh at the absurdity of life.

Kids act based on what’s important.

Kids throw themselves into each moment.

Kids will try something just because they can.

Kids will connect with people without judgement.

Kids believe in possibility.

It’s easy to forget these things as a go-getting grown-up; it’s easy to become jaded, cynical or tired.  It’s easy to become so focused on doing stuff that you forget who you are while you’re so busy doing all that stuff.

It’s easy to lose confidence in those child-like qualities, but it’s by trusting them that life becomes richer.

If, as a grown-up (which I’m still not convinced I am), I can keep even some of those things alive, then I’m onto something special.

Who’s with me?