Play as a way of life.
When we were children, we didn't "do exercises", but jumped like grasshoppers. We didn't "plan goals", but dreamed out loud. We didn't "search for meaning", but found joy in soap bubbles.
And what's stopping you now?
Take a coloring book for adults. Or better yet, a children's one — with dinosaurs. Buy yourself a kite. Or at least play a board game with friends. The game reveals what life has long been trying to remind you: joy is simple.
Allow yourself to be "little"
No, you don't have to know everything. You don't have to cope with pain alone. You have the right to cry from a cartoon and laugh until your cheeks hurt.
Being an adult does not mean being serious all the time. Being an adult means knowing when to be a child.
Go to an amusement park. Pet a pony. Play with children - or better yet, learn from them. They still remember how to be real.
Stop to feel.
When we are children, we are in no hurry. We can look at a beetle for half an hour. Listen to the rustling of the leaves. Freeze from a butterfly.
Remember this. Arrange a "slow day". No rush, no phone, no work. Just live. This is magic.
And maybe happiness.
The ending, or the beginning?
Childhood is not just a stage. It is a source. It is a margin of safety that we carry within ourselves.
So do not be afraid to be funny. Write by hand. Look for figures in the clouds.
This is not an escape from reality - it is a return to oneself.