Wellness Lessons from Toddlers

“The average three-year old expresses qualities we have long since abandoned due to overwhelming ‘busy’-ness,” asserts Danielle Brooker in a Forbes magazine article. She outlines the five ways young children naturally practice wellness and asks, “Which lessons will you be adopting today?” Here are the five:

“1. Presence.
When toddlers are coloring, chasing butterflies, jumping on trampolines, or swinging on swings it’s like that is the only thing they want to be doing. The thought of being anywhere else is unfathomable...

As we grow older, presence is something that slips away. Practices such as meditation and mindfulness are all tools that support being more in the ‘now’ (i.e. present)...

2. Be Spontaneous
Toddlers don’t sit around waiting for the right decision to come to them. They make decisions fast. And, as it turns out, so do successful people...

3. Color Outside the Lines
Another way to put this one: embrace imperfection...

4. Be Curious.
Ask stacks of questions.
But whhhhyyyyy???
Remember being that interested in something? Wanting to know everything about it and then waking up the next day and wanting to learn all over again?...

5. Forgive Quickly.
Finally, toddlers move on so quickly. Tantrum one minute, running around gleefully the next. No hard feelings. It seems to be that it’s us adults that ‘hold on’ to those feelings and grudges. Forgiveness, letting go, and moving on quickly lead to less stress and anxiety and other long-term health benefits too.”

Source: “Five Easy Wellness Lessons a Toddler Can Teach You,” by Danielle Brooker, Forbes magazine, October 15, 2018

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