The Value of A Childish Heart 童心的价值

            In this fast-changing world, many people, especially adults, find living happily to be difficult. Whether it is intense pressure from work or bothersome chores from home, today’s world suffocates many adults to the point that their human nature becomes crooked, and they start to lose passion, honesty, freedom, and a naïve soul. From my point of view, to live happily in the adult world, one must not only possess a robust body but also, more importantly, a childish heart. I will elaborate in the following paragraphs. 

            What is a childish heart? In the simplest sense, a childish heart is that of a child, disregarding age. What characteristics does a childish heart have? Think back to the age when you were a child. In my opinion, I believe a childish heart is composed of three interconnecting traits: Passion, honesty, and freedom. These three qualities usually get washed away easily in the adult world, in particular the last one, but they are indispensable for bringing mental wealth, and thus happiness. 

            Let me write about passion first. Passion is a strong emotional charge of energy towards something. I think every child has passion during their childhood, the passion for everything they do or have an interest in. Take me as an example. When I was a kid, I had a particular passion for all kinds of cars. My passion can be seen in so many ways. Virtually every time my mom and dad took me to the mall, I would request tirelessly to buy new models of all kinds of vehicles. If they refused, well, I would cry for an hour at the very least. On the driveway, whenever my curious eyes spotted a crane or some unusual car, I would yell out to make my dad approach as close as possible to let me take a view at all possible angles. Owing to my passion, we have to change routes countless times. In my home, believe it or not, I owned more than 50 different cars, and each morning I would rearrange them to form new motorcades. From my own example, it is easy to see how children can be passionate about everything they do, it is an innate trait. However, in the adult world, passion is often lacking. I can clearly detect that in some of the adults I know of. Reasons vary. Some say that their job does not fit them very well, some say that family holds them down. These kinds of complaints lead adults to be bored or even hateful of life. If these adults have the passion of children, then they can focus on one thing at a time and work with great efficiency and effectiveness, which can result in possible outcomes. 

            Besides passion, honesty is also present in nearly every child, the honesty towards others, and the honesty towards yourself. When you were young, you liked to tell your close friends or family everything. You trusted others and were honest with them. I remember that one time I hurt one of my friends’ face by accident when we were fighting using sticks. When my parents asked me whether it was me who caused the damage, I admitted quickly. When you felt embarrassed, you often looked for help. Further, you were honest with yourself, with your own inner feelings. When you were in a dilemma, you usually asked your parents to intervene. Because of your honesty, you could share your ideas and emotions with others in a frank and thoughtful way. But when you grow into an adult and step into society, this honesty can be gone. Many adults that are covetous for a higher position or salary can utilize fraudulent action. And when some adults meet trouble, they seldom proactively seek help, they think they can weather the world alone, or the trouble is not that serious, or that they will not receive love and support. In many situations this kind of dishonest mindset with yourself can worsen the issue, making one’s life less happy. I believe by possessing a childish heart, we can always face the issue directly and solve it effectively sometimes with the assistance of others.

            The third trait that a child has is freedom. Freedom comes in two kinds, physical and mental. Here I would prefer to talk more about mental freedom. Mental freedom is present in kids. When we were young, we always craved to explore the world around us. We were curious about everything, from how spiders weave their webs to why time cannot stop. According to the famous Chinese philosopher Zhou Guoping, children can all be philosophers. Why? From my point of view, it is because there are virtually no mental shackles that hindered our exploration process. Children are mentally free. They only care about the phenomenon or object itself, they are free of concerns of money, fame, etc. that usually capture our freedom and imagination. I propose that by having a childish heart, this kind of freedom will come back to us when we grow older and remain in our minds for the rest of our lives. A great case that supports my point is the legendary physician and Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman. Throughout his life, he made many jaw-dropping discoveries in the field of physics. He never intrinsically pursued money or fame. When the Nobel Prize Committee called him to inform him that he won the Prize at three o’clock in the morning, he yelled into the telephone “Why did you call me up at this time?” and he threw the telephone down fiercely. He wanted to travel to the Soviet Union during the Cold War, but the visa was extremely hard to obtain due to the tense relationship between the two sides. The Soviet government promised Feynman that he should get his visa immediately if he would lecture to university students in that country. Feynman refused. The visa arrived, finally, three days after his death in 1988. Feynman had the mental freedom to pursue knowledge itself. He was interested in biology, but he was a physicist, not a biologist. So, Feynman once requested a professor teaching biology at his university to learn. The professor replied that he could if he could take lessons, hand in homework, and write essays with the other students. Feynman accepted the requirements. He once observed students throwing restaurant plates around. He suddenly came up with the idea that there must be some kind of correlation between the frequency at which the logo on a plate spins and sways. Feynman did the calculations and surprisingly did find an intriguing correlation. He presented his results to the chairman of his department. The chairman questioned Feynman about what use could this correlation possibly bring. Feynman replied, “I don’t care if it has any actual use at all, I am just interested in the relationship”. He possessed a childish heart that had this inextricable and strong curiosity in it. This kind of curiosity and mental freedom eventually led to his success. Today, most adults are, unfortunately, not like Feynman. They are confined by money and fame. Consequently, they cannot reach into the depth of knowledge or make new discoveries that must be driven by this childish, frenzy curiosity.  

            Overall, in this modern age, having a childish heart seems quite important for a person’s success and mental well-being. Passion, honesty, and freedom will simplify the world to a subtle level and will allow you to achieve more meaningful goals in life. Possessing a childish heart can be difficult to fathom, but it is possible once you realize its significance.

PICTURE FROM

健康生活. "26年，我与精神分裂症'和解'了." 52hrtt.com, 13 Nov.
     2019, www.52hrtt.com/ro/n/w/info/G1573554803602. Accessed 2 May 2021.

在这个快速变化的世界，许多人，尤其是成年人，发现快乐地生活是很困难的。无论是来自工作的巨大压力，还是来自家庭的烦人琐事，今天的世界让许多成年人感到窒息，以至于他们的人性变得歪曲。他们开始失去激情、诚实、自由和天真的灵魂。在我看来，要想在成人世界中快乐地生活，不仅要拥有健壮的身体，更重要的是要有一颗童心。我将在以下段落中详细说明。

        什么是童心？在最简单的意义上，童心是指一颗孩子的心，这与真实的年龄无关。稚嫩的心有什么特点？回想一下你还是个孩子的时光。在我看来，我相信一颗童心是由三个相互关联的特征组成的——激情、诚实和自由。这三种特质通常在成人世界中很容易被冲淡，尤其是最后一种，但它们对于带来精神财富，从而带来幸福是不可缺少的。

        让我先论述一下激情。激情是一种对某件事情的强烈情感冲动。我认为每个孩子在他们的童年时期都富有激情，对他们所做的一切或感兴趣的一切都有激情。以我为例，当我还是个孩子的时候，我对各种汽车都有一种特别的热情，我的热情可以从很多方面看出来。几乎每次我的妈妈和爸爸带我去商场，我都会不厌其烦地要求购买各种车辆的新模型。如果他们拒绝，那么，我至少会哭上一个小时。在车道上，每当我好奇的眼睛发现起重机或一些不寻常的汽车时，我就会激动的大声喊叫，让爸爸尽量把车靠近点，让我从所有可能的角度看一看，我们为此不止一次的改变行车路线。在我的家里，不管你信不信，我拥有50多辆不同的汽车，每天早上我都会把它们重新排列，组成新的车队。从我自己的例子中不难看出，孩子们可以对他们所做的一切充满激情，这是他们出生时的一种先天特征。然而，在成人世界中，往往缺乏激情。我可以清楚地在我认识的一些成年人身上发现这一点。原因各不相同，有些人说，他们的工作不太适合他们，有些人说，家庭压制了他们。这类抱怨导致成年人对生活感到厌烦，甚至憎恨。如果这些成年人有孩子的激情，那么他们就能专注于他们喜欢的事，并以极高的专注度和效率工作，从而获得可能的成果。

        除了激情，诚实也几乎存在于每个孩子身上，对他人诚实，更对自己诚实。当你年幼的时候，你喜欢告诉你的亲密朋友或家人一切，你信任他人并对他人诚实。我记得有一次，当我们用棍子打架时，我不小心弄伤了我一个朋友的脸。当我的父母问我是否是我造成的伤害时，我毫不犹豫地承认了。但更关键的是，拥有童心，就会对自己诚实。当你感到尴尬的时候，你经常寻求帮助，当你处于两难境地时，你通常要求你的父母进行干预。由于你的诚实，你可以以坦率和周到的方式与他人分享你的想法和情感。这就是你对自己的诚实，对于自己内心情感的诚实。但是，当你成长为一个成年人，踏入社会时，这种诚实就可能消失。许多觊觎更高职位或薪水的成年人可以利用欺诈他人的行为获得成功。而当一些成年人遇到麻烦时，他们很少主动寻求帮助，他们认为他们只能独自应对这个世界，他们意识不到问题的严重性，他们不相信自己可以获得友情和爱。在很多情况下，这种对他人和对自己不诚实的心态会使情况恶化，使人的生活不那么快乐。我相信只要拥有一颗童心，我们总能直接面对问题，有时可以在别人的帮助下有效解决。

        孩子拥有的第三个特质是自由。自由有两种，身体和精神。在这里，我更愿意谈一谈精神自由。精神上的自由存在于孩子身上，当我们年幼的时候，我们总是渴望探索我们周围的世界。我们对一切都很好奇，从蜘蛛如何织网到为什么时间不能停止。根据中国著名哲学家周国平的说法，我们每一个小孩都是哲学家。为什么呢？在我看来，这是因为几乎没有阻碍我们探索过程的精神桎梏。儿童在精神上是自由的，他们只关心现象或物体本身，他们没有金钱、名声等方面的顾虑，而这些顾虑通常会俘获我们的自由和想象力。我觉得，成年人通过拥有一颗童心，这种自由会在我们长大后回到我们身边，并在我们的脑海中保留一辈子。支持我的观点的一个很好的案例是传奇的物理学家和诺贝尔奖获得者理查德-费曼。在他的一生中，他在物理学领域做出了许多杰出的贡献。他从不在本质上追求金钱或名利。当诺贝尔奖委员会在凌晨三点打电话通知他获奖时，他对着电话大喊："你为什么在这个时候给我打电话？"他猛地扔下电话。在冷战时期，他想去苏联旅行，但由于双方关系紧张，要获得签证非常困难。苏联政府要求费曼承诺，如果他愿意在该国给大学生讲课，他可以立即获得签证，费曼拒绝了。签证终于在他1988年去世后三天到达，费曼有追求知识和真理本身的精神自由。他对生物学感兴趣，但他是一个物理学家，而不是一个生物学家。所以，费曼曾经向他大学里教生物学的教授提出学习请求。教授回答说，如果他能和其他学生一起上课、交作业、写论文，他就可以。费曼接受了这个要求。有一次，他观察到学生们把餐馆的盘子扔来扔去。他突然想到，盘子上的标志旋转和摇摆的频率之间一定有某种关联。费曼做了计算，令人惊讶的是，他确实发现了一种耐人寻味的关联性。他把他的结果提交给他所在部门的主席。主席询问费曼，这种相关性可能带来什么用途，费曼回答说："我不关心它是否有任何实际用途，我只是对这种关系本身感兴趣"。他拥有一颗幼稚的心，里面有这种难以割舍的强烈好奇心，这种好奇心和精神自由最终导致了他的成功。今天，不幸的是，大多数成年人都不像费曼，他们被金钱和名声所束缚，因此，他们无法接触到知识的深度，也无法做出必须由这种幼稚、狂热的好奇心驱动的新发现。 

        总的来说，在这个时代，拥有一颗童心对一个人的成功和精神健康相当重要。激情、诚实和自由会将你的世界引领到一个微妙的层次，并让你在生活中实现更有意义的目标。拥有一颗童心可能难以想象，但一旦你意识到它的意义，就有可能做到。