– Heartwood Path Waypoint 1.107 –

Childlike Innocence

Stay Active Like Children
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Being childlike does not mean being childish, or immature, or undisciplined, or uneducated. It does mean to be nonjudgmental, accepting, and loving.  

To be as perfect as a child, spend time with children. Just remember, as we all know, they are capable of disgracing you by demonstrating in public the example you set for them in private. 

​When you are being stodgy, convert to being childlike. Stay active like children. Keep moving. Write down how you will be childlike this week.
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To Being Nonjudgmental, Accepting, And Loving…
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​HumaNatureConnect Activity
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If this is not a day when you prefer to spend time in nature without an agenda, do the following activity:
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Start-up Protocol
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• Read The Text — Use your literary sense, your mind sense, and your reason sense  to read your way towards happiness and sustainability but do not just be an arm-chair traveler. Use your other natural senses as you also spend healthful, fun, and productive time in nature on your way to Gladandgreen Junction.
• Attractive Natural Being — With pen and journal in hand, go to a natural area and look around to find a natural being that is attractive to you.
• Appreciation and Gratefulness — While admiring your chosen being, appreciate it with your inhalations and give it gratitude with your exhalations.
• Consent — Once you find an aspect of nature that is attractive to you continuously for at least ten seconds, think of your continued attraction as your consent to have a connection experience that will lead to your optimal functioning.
• The Natural Senses — After gaining consent to enter into a connection experience with the natural being, have available the list of Natural Senses. Mix it up by using at least one radiation sense, one feeling sense, one chemical sense, and one mental sense, to widen your perception, and add variety to your experience.
• HumaNatureConnect Activity — After reading the text, finding a natural being, appreciating it, gaining its consent, and scanning the list of natural senses, use your heightened awareness and nature-induced optimal functioning to do the following activity and engage in as many follow-up components as you see fit.

Maintaining Childlike Innocence
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For this activity, consider the wisdom that comes from being childlike. Review the following statements and add some of your own. Record your impressions of these statements in your journal.

Statements Inspired By Looking Through Children’s Eyes	What Do I Think Of Each Statement
When milk spills, what is done is done.
I accept me for the way I am.
Sharing time with loved ones is important. Most other things less so.
My life is dedicated to ____.
Life is a friendly sparring partner, not an enemy.
I seek to fix the world for my own benefit more than for the world’s benefit.
It is often hard to accept that what is good for others is more important than getting what I want.
Life has struggles and respites.
Shouting does not work.
Answer your own questions.
Fear, surprise, hesitation, and doubt prohibit progress.
It is better to be motivated by others than to be envious of others.
I get smarter after I count to ten.
Let go of what you cannot change.
Shoot for the top and accept failure.
Dream big. Plan smart.
Live in the moment.
Reality is as good as the dream.
Think before you act and speak.
Dress not so people react to you better.
Show it, don’t explain it.
Give yourself space to do what you want.
Put plans to your dreams.
Laugh.
Make your own bed.
My rewards come from effort.
You feel better about yourself when your comfort zone is bigger.
Nurture me and do not break my will and I will have confidence, cooperation, and compassion.
Clarify your thoughts with questions.  Ask “why?”
Self-esteem and self-respect lead to dignity.
It is good to be willful as long as you also, when appropriate, cooperate.
Release your feelings.
Do good. Don’t try to convert others.
I will learn to listen to my parents by them listening to me.
People do not always make sense.
I can only learn to forgive when I have someone to forgive.
Often statements and feelings come from the distant past.
Let go.
I can only learn to be patient when I have to delay my gratification.
You’re a grown-up when you are on your own.
Manners count.
I can only learn to cooperate by things occasionally not going my way.
Stuff grows to fill the space you give to it.
When lost, go back to where you were when you knew where you were.
I can best learn to be creative by having to do some things for myself.
Being scared of other people diminishes when you set personal boundaries.
I can learn to be compassionate by feeling pain and loss.
Buy only what you can afford.
I can learn courage and optimism by facing adversity.
If you are worried, do something.
We all want to belong.
I can learn to persevere and develop my strength by facing things that are hard.
Music that lifts your spirits only makes you feel better when you play it.
Feeling guilty is a sign that you are being good.
I will learn how to self-correct by experiencing difficulty, failure, and mistakes.
After an argument, as long as we are talking we are making progress.
Rules are flexible.
I will develop my self-esteem and healthy pride by overcoming obstacles and achievement.
I am not responsible for everything that happens.
It is wonderful to have someone who is happy to see me.
I will become more self-sufficient by experiencing exclusion and rejection.
Everyone needs space to be themselves.
Be nice.
You are allowed to become an individual.
I will be more self-directed when I have opportunities to resist authority and not get what I want.
Apologize, when needed.
Everyone has the right to privacy.
Some of the best phrases for helping me overcome my resistance and to encourage me to participate are “will you . . .” and “would you . . .”
For a loved one, the important thing is to be there, and not just for the good parts.
Never be too busy for a loved one.
As a child, do not ask me what I want, or like, or need, or think, or even feel. Instead, make a suggestion and let me accept or resist.
Let others make some of their own mistakes so they can learn from them.
You cannot be skilled and enthusiastic about everything.
Only lend what you are not attached to.
The behavior may be bad, but never the child.
Lift the spirits, lift the gloom, lift the burden.
As a child grows, let them do more.
I will resist you if I do not feel heard or seen.
Allow the child to break free so they can come home as more than a child.
It is a good thing when the child is hanging out with people who test your tolerance. It shows they are not being judgmental and prejudiced.
Being heard is more important than being someplace on time.
Children have a duty to be courteous, respectful, and cooperative with their parents.
Forgive but do not allow yourself to be pushed around.
As a child, I need strong parents who know what is best more than I need more choices.
Play some part in your community.
Hang around with people who make you feel good.
As a child, I need a boss because I am too young to be self-employed.
As a child, I will learn to accept what has to be by expressing and then letting go of my resistance.
It is helpful and I like it when you pass along your skills.
The high ground tastes better than revenge.
Do not give up your life for God, live your life for Absolute Spirit (or God, if you prefer that name).
The television is rarely a good option.
Take some action.
Giving me more time with you encourages me to be cooperative.
Not everyone can be as green as we would like.
Add your own bit here.
Be resilient.
It is better that you remain strong after you use your command voice. It is better to leave emotional distress out of your expression.
If not now, when?
Be optimistic.
Lectures are boring and confusing and do not inspire cooperation.
Accept.
Put your own spin on it.
Be moderate, but not all the time.
As a child, I am small so you can put me in time out when I am out of control. Time out works fast.
Show up.
Join the party.
Find meaning.
As a child, you will spoil me if you give me more to avoid confrontation.
Crying makes me feel better.
If you want me to cooperate, ask and do not order.
Fixing is not as good as listening and nurturing when you want to minimize resistance and improve communication.
Rewarding works better than punishing if you want to increase my motivation.
A good leader commands rather than demands.
Time outs are better than spankings if you want to maintain control.
At any age, a masculine child needs trust more and a feminine child needs caring more.
A feminine person knows that no matter how good it gets, it can always get better.
Sometimes people are shaped round and that is ok.
Ad your statement here.
I do not want to learn more skills because I might fail.
My mistakes are normal and inevitable.
My speed of learning may be slower than yours and that is ok.
The younger I am the less responsible I am.
I will learn responsibility through your example.
I will learn to love myself by the way you treat me.
Negative emotions are acceptable and thinking of them that way helps me learn to manage them.
Your reassurance and guidance opens me up to empathy, which can be expressed by silent caring and understanding.
I need a little expressed validation.
When you resist my feelings it is because I am expressing something you are resisting in yourself.
Know and recognize the difference between a manipulative whiner and a brilliant negotiator.
Set reasonable limits or I will become unreasonable.
Add some more statements of your own and record your impressions of them in your journal.

​​​​Follow-up Protocol
Natural Systems Reflection Process
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     For best results, write down your impressions of this activity in your journal using as many of the following components as you see fit, afterwards, share your interpretations with others.
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Journal Components
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• General Description — writing a general description of how you did the activity and what happened.
• Freeform — writing, in freeform, what you found attractive about your natural being.
• Three Qualities — writing down three qualities you found most attractive about your natural being.
• Three Learnings — writing down three things you learned from this activity.
• Self-esteem & Trust — writing down how, if at all, this activity changed your self-esteem or trustfulness of Nature.
• Changes To Self — writing down what aspects of your self, if any, were changed by this activity.
• Honor Yourself — praising yourself and your commitment to making another stop along the Heartwood Path good for yourself and the world.
• I’m A Person Who . . . — writing down three different so-called “G/G Statements” using the following format: “This connection experience tells me that I am a person who__________.”
• Feelings If Activity Taken — writing down a sentence about how you would feel if you lost your ability to experience this connection.
• Two-Word Summary — writing down two words that summarize your response to this activity.​

The Heartwood Path Exchange:
Swap Your Ideas, Impressions, Photos, And News With Others
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• Post your impressions and photos in the Comments at the bottom of the page
• Engage with others in your Heartwood Path course or salon
• Create your own salon that meets regularly online, by phone, or in person
• Discuss your impressions with trusted family members and friends
• Post your impressions and photos in our EartHeart Networking Forum
• Post your impressions on this specific waypoint on our Facebook Page
• Join the broader conversations on our Facebook Page
• To see what conversations you can inspire, share your photos and impressions about anything pertaining to your journey down the Heartwood Path on your Facebook page, on Instagram, and on other social media accounts. If you like, include “#heartwoodpath” and “#waypoint(insert waypoint number here)” wherever pertinent

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Your input is vital. Enjoy sharing!

Heartwood Path Axioms:
Key Assertions From Waypoint 1.107

1.107.1.
Stay active like children.

1.107.2.
Being childlike means being nonjudgmental, accepting, and loving.  

1.107.3.
To be as perfect as a child, spend time with children. 

1.107.4.
When you are being stodgy, convert to being childlike. 

1.107.5.
Write down how you will be childlike this week.

Nocturnal Pilgrimage 1.107:
Tend To Your Dreams Before Heading To The Next Waypoint

Go over what you learned about maintaining childlike innocence before you prepare for sleep. Dream.  Tend to your dreams. Continue on your way to the Gladandgreen Junction. When ready, move to the next waypoint: “Do It, Do It Boldly, And Do It Now . . .”

Click here to go to 
the next waypoint:
"Do It, Do It Boldly, And Do It Now"

You have now completed 107 out of 117 waypoints in Kosmos.