The Joys of Childhood
What Lit You Up as a Kid?
Children often don’t have trouble discovering their purpose. They do what excites and makes them happy, free from external expectations. They play, create, and explore without concerns about future success or status. This natural desire to pursue joy and creativity usually diminishes as we grow older and focus more on achievements, career paths, and external validation.
To reconnect with your purpose, it’s helpful to reflect on what excited you as a child. What activities or hobbies made you lose track of time? What were you naturally drawn to before you learned to doubt or suppress those desires?
For me, one such memory is my love of baseball cards. As a child, I was obsessed with collecting them. Over the years, as I got older, I forgot about them completely, but now whenever I come across anything related to baseball cards, it sparks excitement — it grounds me. It’s a reminder of something that lit me up in my youth, and I see it as a potential anchor for my purpose in life.
Thinking about what made you happy as a child can uncover your pure, genuine passions that still have potential. These memories can serve as a base for creating a sense of purpose that feels real and rewarding.
Build a Life of Purpose
If you’ve been waiting for purpose to find you, you might be waiting forever. Instead of searching for an elusive “one thing” that will suddenly make your life feel purposeful, focus on the anchors that already exist in your life. Look to your regrets, childhood joys, what’s left after removing the unimportant, and what excites you through experimentation. These elements can guide you toward a deeper, more authentic sense of purpose.
Building a life with purpose isn’t about waiting for the perfect revelation to appear. It’s about creating your life, step by step, grounded in what lights you up and brings fulfillment. The more you build, the more purpose you will discover.
These are just some of the things that brought me joy while I was growing up in Dolgeville, New York, during the 1940s and 1950s.
*Wandering the village streets day and night
* The scent of freshly cut grass
* The sound of gurgling water as it flows through town
* Ice cream socials and band concerts in the park.
* Staring down at my “white bucks” on the way to church on Easter Sunday
* Riding through the countryside with my brother Dave, reading the Burma Shave signs.
* Stopping at Green Acres for burgers, hot dogs, banana splits, and ice cream on Sundays.
* Swimming in Ives Hollow
* Dave and I riding our “Huffy” bikes all over town.
* Catching fish at Wards Pond
* Spending time reading books at the library
* Reading comic books from the Dolgeville News
And so much more. I’ll be back next week with more treasures from my childhood. And don’t be surprised if you take a trip there. You may find me walking along Main Street!
See you then and there!
Blessings,
