What kills and destroys that childlike energy we used to have when we were young? Do you remember that feeling? Even watching children, we can remember their relentless energy in whatever it is they do. They can play, study, or sleep for hours on end. Well, part of that, is simply because of their developmental phases, but I think another big part of that energy is entirely psychological. So the question is, how do you get that energy back? The single answer to the number one reason of why adults can tend to seem so sluggish can be summed up in a single word: monotony. Or in other words, that terrible state of every single day being exactly the same, day in and day out.

For most people, there is a trust in the societal system of waking up every single day, taking a shower, eating a quick meal, rushing out the door to work, doing the same repetitive tasks at work all day long, coming home, and then usually watching television for an hour or two, eating dinner, watch television some more, and then go to sleep. Occasionally there might be the night out on the town to eat dinner, see a play, go to the cinema, or perhaps it is the woman dragging the man into a shopping mall for an evening. Whatever the case, it is all horrifically similar.

Make everyday just a bit different. Make every single day just a bit different and you will find yourself feeling just a bit rejuvenated. Human beings are, by design, not meant to sit at a desk doing paperwork all day. They are meant to be active, physically and mentally, constantly solving problems, making improvements, thinking up technology, and doing all the things that typically, as you observe an average person, you are just not likely going to see very often at all. Start developing a hobby, or even several hobbies. Are you making a sufficient amount of money? Then stop sitting at home, watching t.v., or just sitting idly and surfing the net! Try and do something about it, and don’t give up, whatever it takes! When was the last time you took a vacation? Get out and see some sights or take a day off from the usual grind to relax and lay in a hammock. You may even want to throw away some of the old habits all together.

There are a number of benefits to getting away from the same television shows every single day, or being bombarded with the negatively oriented stories of the news stations in both radio and TV. In my article 20 Ways to Improve Your Life and Health, I have this to say about TV and radio:

Hold back on the TV, or quit television all together. Some people I know are personally terrified to quit watching TV – they think it will be the end of the world or something. My suggestion is that you try it and see what it might do for you. For 30 days, lay off television and see what happens as a result. Take all the time you spend watching TV and hit the town – go meet new people, get involved in other activities, or read. Your perspective, even within a very short period of time, may dramatically change as a result, and your brain will thank you.

Limit the music you listen to when driving. If you drive a car, limit the amount of music you listen to from both radio stations or any kind of audio player. Turn it all off, and drive in silence during a time when you’re relaxed, and alert. Listen to the sounds of the road, experience the thoughts that will run through your mind, note how your emotional state can change.

Another major problem for the adult’s lack of energy is a giant shift that often happens, especially in American culture, of staying still. It is said that the U.S. Surgeon General recommends that you get a minimum of 30 minutes of active exercise per day. How often do you exercise? I’ll even admit it myself – I do not even exercise 30 minutes every single day. By the end of the week, it might begin to average out to about 7 or 8 minutes, and that’s on a pretty good week! Virtually all the people I know directly have this same problem. This is just simply not a very healthy way to live, and if you ask me – I think it’s something that we should both try and improve on.

Get more exercise, everyday, and make it fun. Exercise is not something that should be a chore. People are physical, and their actions should reflect such. When was the last time you felt good about working out or exercising? For some, there are natural chemicals that get released within the brain that allow this to happen while for others it can be more difficult to get more out of exercise. Have you ever experienced the “runner’s high?” Find a way to enjoy exercising and get to it! Myself, I’ve had a surprising amount of fun following work out videos. While some of them are lame, others are just straight out entertaining(but don’t forget to exercise, not just watch).

Children believe in awe, mystery, and wonder about the world. Part of the reason they believe this is that they believe there is so much more that they need to know, and the earlier your age, the more you often feel you have to learn. But children are often holding more wisdom than adults in this area – the world still is a mysterious place. The real secret to living an enriched life is not to live in the know, but to “be in the mystery,” as quantum physicist Fred Alan Wolf put so well. And it’s true. If you find mystery in no other place, I can tell you that the human mind still has plenty to figure out. Learning is not meant to be the black and white paperwork you were used to filling out in high school and probably college – learning is meant to be colorful, powerful, mysterious, and exciting.

You might consider the fact that the human brain starts its life with approximately 100,000,000,000 neurons, neurons essentially being the computational cell that allows signals to pass through your brain, allowing you to be conscious and have thoughts. Summed up, that means that the variety that exists within human beings has an exponential differentiation of over 100 billion different possibilities. As far as the 100 billion neurons that every child is born with, there are over 100 trillion different synaptic connections. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it. Then, if you can, you tell me that we know everything there is to know about the human mind and what it is capable of. Or how about that old thing we discovered in the 1800′s and early 1900′s called electricity. Do you know what exactly electricity is? You likely do not. Neither does anybody else, they simply know a few things about how to use it. :)

You don’t have to believe in magic, but know there is always more to know. For some people, this seems like a dreadful idea. To me, it is downright fascinating and entirely satisfying. When there is always more to know, this means that there is always more to discover. Discovery is almost always exciting. Most of the world’s great thinkers were absolutely out of their minds, and yet they are called geniuses. Isaac Newton was anti-social, but figured out fundamental laws of physics. Einstein was dyslexic, yet created the theory of relativity. Disney was dyslexic, yet forged one of the world’s largest entertainment and animation corporations. Leonardo Da Vinci was bipolar, but was labeled an artistic genius. All of that is all well and good, but the real good news it that if these guys can do this stuff with mental disorders, then I do not care who you are – you can do similar things yourself. You have the power, and potential to do so, even in this modern day and age of medical miracles and advanced technologies.

I think the overall message here is that you have just got to GET ACTIVE! Get out there, and get moving. Do not be that couch potato that sits at home watching Everybody Loves Raymond, however good of a show it might be.

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