This lesson is one of my favorite but seemingly the hardest for us as adults to adhere to.
Be a kid again and remember what it was like to have fun!
Now about now you might be saying to yourself "Okay Harper, the other rules make sense but what does being kid-like have to do with me creating the life that I want much less Rippling?"
It has everything to do with it!
Remember back to when you were a kid and you had your whole like in front of you? Remember thinking with wild amazement at what you might do in the future? For me I wanted to be a doctor. I wanted to be a professional soccer player. I wanted to travel to Mars. The whole world of possibilities were out there and the only limitation I had was my imagination.
Plus remember what it was like to meet new people when you were a kid? Everyone was a buddy or a pal. There were no judgments; those came later. There were no false pretenses; those too would come later. And anyone and everyone could be your friend.
I still remember way back in elementary school when I would proudly proclaim both "Tiger" the school janitor and Joe the neighbor were my best friends in the world. Know what....they probably were....along with virtually everyone else who came into my life. That was until the bully situation happened as discussed in lesson five.
Bottom line when we all lose something along the way. We grow filters and build walls and somehow lose our kid-like ability to have fun and enjoy all that comes into our world; people, places, experiences, etc.. But you haven't lost your kid-like abilities you just aren't skilled at using them anymore.
Try evoking lesson number six and see what kind of Ripples you can create. Try finding a fun way to reconnect with someone in your life. Send them one ticket to the circus and tell them you will meet them there. Seek out one of the old lunch boxes (you know the metal ones that were so cool back in the day) and fill it with a good book or movie and plenty of treats. Buy a cool kite and send it to your best friend and suggest a day of hooky.
Your only limitation is your imagination.
Want to call up your inner child and see what comes out? Try this exercise....
- Grab three sheets of blank copy paper.
- Grab a brand new box of crayons.
- At the top of one page write Family. On the top of the second page write Friends. On the top of the third page write Business.
- Then on one side make a list of all the fun, creative ways you could do some fun ripples for each of these target audiences. Have fun...brainstorm and let your creative juices really flow. Remember to look at creating these Ripples using your child eyes (they still work ya know!) and imagination (which is limitless....trust me on this).
- On the back side of each page draw (yes...draw) yourself doing one of the Ripples you wrote on the front and show the person's reaction who receives the Ripple.
Sound crazy? Well maybe it is but I guarantee you the Ripples you create are going to be fantastic and extremely memorable!!!
Ripple On and Have Some Fun!!!
Steve
As many of you know I have the same name as the Prime Minister of Canada; we are both Stephen Harper. This has led to some pretty interesting emails and in one particular instance a lady who bought my book off Amazon (a former Canadian now living in Florida) who thought she was buying one "his early works." Boy was she disappointed to see my ugly mug when she finished the book. She went from thinking the Prime Minister is a brilliant guy to who the hell is "this" Steve Harper and why did I buy this book again?
