Childhood

Today at work I stumbled over this song. A song I used to listen to a few years ago, after I was travelling alone through Central America. I remember that I was less impressed by the music but more by the lyrics. It made me think. “If I knew YESTERDAY, what I know TODAY, where would I be TOMORROW.” You learn a lot when you are discovering the world all by yourself. A big influence have the people you meet. People with different backgrounds and different life stories. I was always impressed how fast you get to know people when you are travelling. By knowing I don’t mean their favorite colour, their Instagram name or their job. I m talking about essential information like dreams, fears and personal strokes of fate. I have to admit some of the people I met while traveling I know better than people here in my hometown that I know since several months even years. It’s rare to have that intimate connection with people that are trapped in their daily habits. I don’t exclude myself here. Shortly after my trip I was always feeling inspired and boosted with energy and willingness to change things, but then after some weeks it’s all gone and you are caught in your daily routine. This text is the first thing to prove myself that I’ll act differently after my latest travel experience. Hence, why do people open up quicker when they are not in their well-known surrounding? Thinking back to childhood, it seems like we lost our curiosity. As a child you want to discover the world. You want to learn new things and you talk to complete strangers to learn more about something. I’m sure you already experienced a similar situation: You are sitting on a bus, lost in your daydreams and a child smiles at you and reaches out to touch your furry keyholder. “Click” the connection is done. The same situation with an adult. He/She’s sitting in a bus and looking into his/her phone, checking the news, social media or Netflix. Or the person is just looking out of the window and listening to the music coming out of her earplugs. Why? They don’t want to learn anymore? Some of them might indeed think they know all they need to know but others are just tired. Tired of talking to people, trying to make them listen to them, trying to help or trying to impress. Often without any success and that’s why they are fed up to talk to people. So somewhere between childhood and adulthood we lose curiosity because we use the energy for things “society asks us to do” Traveling alone is one way how to learn that again. But I think it’s not the only opportunity. How about changing your focus? It might not be what you tell them but what they tell you. I’m convinced that every person you meet, tells and shows you something to learn from. If you just listen carefully, read between the lines and show empathy you can take something valuable out of it. So my conclusion: Don’t regret what you’ve done/haven’t done in the past, do it right now. It doesn’t matter when you start your learning curve. Every day is a new chance to start. I hope by reading my thoughts I inspired you to act like you did back in your childhood. There we were experts in letting go what was YESTERDAY and focus on what happens TODAY and when we keep doing this I m sure we are all where we want to be by TOMORROW! ;-)