Love Lessons We Can Learn from Our Children

If you want to learn how to love and be loved, spend the day with a four year old. You will know love again.

Children love and connect in more open-hearted and unconditional ways than we do as adults. They intuitively plug into to a field of divine energy that emanates from them. Through this connection to their divine source, they are continuously in touch with their infinite nature as love.

Love comes naturally to children as it once did to us. They don’t think about expressing love, they just do it. Heart-centered and optimistic, they trust their innate ability to love and be loved. Above all, they radiate love without ego, expectations, or reservations, and show us that nothing is more important than being love.

Being a mother opened my heart to love in ways I could never have imagined. My children were my best teachers for how to love and be lighthearted because they infused their daily lives with it. As bundles of pure love energy, they moved from one moment to the next with a passion that bubbled up and overflowed into a sea of possibilities.

“Come on Mommy,” my daughter would say, “Let’s run in joy!”

Just observe a child at play, openhearted, and present and you will see them as channels of love, delighting in the beauty of life. You, too, knew lightheartedness as a child, especially when you splashed in puddles after a warm rain, chased twinkling fireflies on warm summer evenings, or built forts or fairy altars in your backyard. You paid attention to the ordinary which made life extraordinary.

Living in the flow of love, you can be fully present, and notice the beauty and wonder in the world around you. You can tune into your senses, which turns up the volume on the artistry that surrounds you. Gazing up at the stars, deeply listening to a loved one, or smelling the newly mown grass, you can be more mindful of your wonderful world and fully connected to those around you.

Children can show you how to take time to play and “just be.” Remember, when you had twenty minutes for recess? The bell would ring, and for twenty precious minutes, time stood still and the universe of possibility opened up to you. You yielded to this freedom of spirit knowing that nothing else mattered. As an adult, you may have lost the sense of spontaneity you had as a child, when rules and routines were things to be ignored. As difficult as it may be to take time to just be, you must give yourself permission to do just that.

It’s challenging to take time to celebrate “being” in a culture that values doing over being and productivity over creativity. Becoming more present can you restore the balance of energies needed to enhance your relationships, deepen intimacy, and live in the flow of love. Like children engrossed in creative play, you feel connected, distractions disappear, and you live in the moment. Stringing together such moments brings love, joy, and inspiration.

Children are transparent and aren’t afraid to be vulnerable. They show you how to lead with your heart, be true to yourself, and live uninhibited. You may fear that if you follow your heart and express your free-spirit you will be seen as immature or irresponsible. Override these thoughts and be open and vulnerable, speak your truth, and make love to life by embracing the philosophy of “let’s see what happens.”

Through immersing yourself in a child’s love, joy, and imagination, you can learn how to be uninhibited and playful once again. Let a child reintroduce you to the wonders of stargazing, the glee of chasing butterflies, and the timelessness of a summer day. By playing with them, you will spend more time communing with your heart and soul.

Children do the things that make their heart sing and fully enjoy life’s wonders. You too, can take pleasure in the simple things in life that make your heart sing, and invite others to join in as you go barefoot in the grass or float in a pool of water. You can dance spontaneously when you hear music at the grocery store, giggle when you get drenched in the rain, or sing out loud while listening to your favorite music. You can seek out new activities that make you laugh with joyful abandon and unlock your heart to love.

Children have the power to teach us the greatest lessons we’ll ever know about love. See yourself reflected in the love-light of a child’s eyes and you will know without a doubt that love is who you are.