The 3 L’s Laughter, Love & Learning.
When we are young kids we live for the moment and the purpose of it is to be in the now. We play tag with our friends and as we run we laugh so fiercely from being chased. When we are caught we chase so fiercely and love every second that is happening. We don’t want to go to bed because all those moments of love and laughter fill us with such intense joy and passion that we don’t wish to miss any moments like it. Then we learn from others, adopting things to ourselves, creating new things from us all the while living in the moment. What an amazing thing, do you remember what that is like?
We as adults forget the 3 things children live by, learning, laughing and loving. They learn like sponges everything they can to help identify the world and how they belong in it. They learn about the things they love and desire to know more of and learn for the sake of learning. They laugh consistently throughout the day, without hesitation, without worry, without pause, laughing with big belly roaring laughs that when heard just make you as an adult pause. And the biggest thing is they love, fully and openly before the world has taught them not to anymore. Love themselves fully, love their friends and neighbors, they love without judgements until the external world of nurture comes into play.
Us adults knock them straight, learn about your countries history. Eat this or don’t eat that, hypocrites and nay sayers, shoving information down their throats. We soon tell them to just grow up and start living the way we do. Is it because of jealousy or because we don’t know any better? I know me personally I would love to have that carefree innocence of my childhood. Climbing trees and playing flashlight tag or man hunt those days of laughing, loving and learning were just so easy.
Society has a funny way of blaming life for it’s problems when in fact it is society who is creating all of the problems. So how can we get back to those days of childhood bliss? Meditation is one answer and mindfulness another. The only thing is both of them require practice and well society is so in a mindset of instant gratification that working at something only has “why bother,” types of mentalities. But what meditation does if practiced is to observe the mind without judgement or applying the mind in a conscious way. This means that you are in the moment, listening, hearing, smelling, feeling all the senses utilized to feel the world around you without labeling it or judging or criticizing. You are here and now, and this doesn’t mean you need to sit in silence, legs folded, eyes closed to be there. It means bringing a sense of mindfulness to the world around you so that you can meditate to it.
Have you ever just people watched? No judgements just watched people walk, talk, laugh, run, get upset, whatever they are doing and just allowed it to be this music that swarms around you, full of life? That is being present. That is meditation and we just call it people watching. When we think of meditation we put this “goal or agenda” on what it will give us. But by putting any sort of pressure on it we lose the actual point. To just be here now, watching the world as the observer, feeling the feelings as the observer. Do you know why people watching is such fun, because we are present but amongst others. It gives us that sense of connectedness we long for, that union with ourselves and with the world. It’s as if we automatically know what to do without thinking. (Just like our bodies know how to heal and protect us without us acting.)
So what would meditation do to bring us back to the 3L’s then? By being in the moment you forget everything else. It’s our innate qualities that make us want to play and laugh and love but we cast all of that aside in search for power, glory and materialistic things because we think that is what will fill that void. Well the void is literally because we are not living now. When you think to the future you get anxious, and when you look to the past you get depressed but if you are in the present that is when you live.
The thing about being present now is that it is not always easy, actually it can be pretty damn hard. We get caught up in all the “responsibilities and to do’s” outside of us and instead of watching the world around us we instead get lost in our thoughts. We become those thoughts and cling to them as if they define us and that we have no other choice. That is when we most need to put in the work so that we may live now and be in the moment. It creates that joy and laughter.
Have you ever just decided to go on a journey, no plans just straight up random adventure? Well if not then I suggest you try it. No phones, no plans, no judgements nothing just be present. Many years ago I went for a random drive. At first I had an agenda but could not figure out where the place was I wanted to go so I kept going. Eventually I wound up at this river in Connecticut and decided to go swimming in it as kayakers passed me. I jumped in and swam for a bit and just enjoyed it. There was no one else except passing kayaks. After that I found a century old tree with a plaque and sat with him for a while. From there I went berry picking, played frisbee with people in a park and then watched people, later to rent a jetski. None of it was planned and I hadn’t laughed, loved or learned as much as I did that day. All because I was present.
When you are present the world seems to open up for you because you are open to receive rather than being closed away in your thoughts. It’s how we get back to those childhood like wonders by being present now. When we are here now we are more open to love, to laugh and to learn and it ads us in letting go of things outside our control. And the best way to practice is by meditation.
When we learn something new it ignites a fire in us and opens us up to create, to be present, to do everything. When we love we just pour a higher vibration into ourselves that allows for the laughter, abundance and joy to flock to us and when we laugh that is when we shatter all the ice around us. It’s why it’s called the icebreaker. Think of a time you were upset or in your head and all of a sudden you started to laugh. Didn’t you feel better right away? Because you bring powerful energy to the moment that is filled with joy and happiness.
So what are some ways you can start to be mindful in your life? You don’t have to read a bunch of books, you just have to practice. Like everything in life it takes practical application to be mindful, not just theory. How can you incorporate being present more often? How can you meditate and be in the moment or with yourself? What are some ways you can laugh more, love more or learn more? Have you laughed recently? When is the last time you had tears running down your face and gasping for breath from laughing so hard? What is holding you back from laughing? Find ways to incorporate those 3 L’s and you will have your childlike wonder back! The only way to do that is to figure out what works for you and then practice.
Today was a 6.