How does a child begin life with so much openness, confidence, curiosity, creativity and an almost limitless sense of possibility…and yet, somewhere along the way, many of us seem to lose those qualities as we grow up?
What happens to this fearless, naturally connected version of us?
Please share your understanding 
@kobrakulsh Very in depth question and so much can be said and discussed. I just Remember a sher by Mirza Ghalib -
“बस कि दुश्वार है हर काम का आसाँ होना
आदमी को भी मयस्सर नहीं इंसाँ होना”
It’s hard being an adult. Most of the days I start nice and clean, full of peace and good vibes. By evening, I’m thoroughly agitated. And when someone asks, “What happened?” I simply say, “People happened.”
Life is also the same. People happen!!
As we grow, we experience so many ups and downs and store these pains in our body as crystals.
Every time this crystal reminds us that we failed / betrayed at this time due to blah blah reason.
We start carrying this baggage.
Thoughtful question
While growing up the innocence disappears
If u remember when a child grows up unknowingly people around puts the seeds of fear - by telling oh if u don’t eat that person will take you, God will punish you, poke your eyes…
Lots of these slowly pollutes the child and in due course the innocence disappears
what a lovely question my blessed Supu,
Further to what our beloved @hc2101 @vikrantsharma.sap @ushapssk has shared
I feel you know all this, its just that we all ponder over and learn you ask these questions,
here’s my humble take, this plasticity is the gift from the Almighty.
Like before we make a new dosa, you might have seen the South Indian hotel sweep the hot pan with sometimes a broom 
So that the new dosa comes out well, but if the earlier dosa was a little burnt, it will leave a scare on the new one and so on…
And taking our Freud’s Tripartite model, the Id comes in touch with the reality principle and slowly transform into Ego…
My take, none of these states are great, having a body is embracing misery, no matter what the outlook. The core teaching of every genuine Master… Transcending it is the goal…
@Harmeet,
I agree with you to an extent 
… but somehow I also feel that it’s not always just “people” who happen.
Sometimes, life happens…
Experiences happen…
The way we interpret those experiences happens…
And slowly, we start building layers around this naturally fearless child.
People may trigger those layers, but I feel the deeper shift happens when we begin looking at ourselves through the eyes of others. We start seeking approval, fearing rejection, comparing ourselves… and gradually forget that little person who once simply explored life without asking,
“What will people think?”
There are these beautiful lines… कि,
“उम्र बढ़ती गई तो समझदार होते गए,
और न जाने कब हम खुद से ही दूर होते गए।”
Maybe growing up is not really about losing that child. Maybe that child is still there, quietly waiting underneath all those layers we have collected over the years. 
Absolutely Vikrant, I am aligned with the “baggage” part of what you’re saying.
We do tend to carry so many unresolved experiences with us, sometimes without even realizing how much they are influencing the way we see ourselves and life.
But I also feel that the pain itself may not always be the problem. It’s the meaning we attach to it, and the story we keep repeating around it, that can make it heavier. Like…
a failure may becomes “I am not good enough.”
a betrayal may becomes “I can never trust anyone.”
a rejection may becomes “Something is wrong with me.”
And then the experience is over, but the emotional imprint continues to travel with us.
For me, healing is not about pretending those experiences never happened. It is about revisiting them with a little more compassion and allowing ourselves to say, “Yes, this happened to me… but it doesn’t have to define me anymore.”
Maybe the real freedom is not in having no baggage, but in learning what we no longer need to carry.
Thank you so much, Venu Sir
Your dosa-pan analogy hit the right point and made the whole idea so much simpler to understand.
I liked what you said about plasticity being a gift from the Almighty. Perhaps this is what gives us the possibility of rewriting what has been impressed upon us. The previous “dosa” may have left a mark, but it doesn’t necessarily mean the next one has to be burnt too.
And yes, I completely agree that perhaps this is where the deeper journey begins. We spend so much of life trying to repair, improve and perfect the Ego, while the Masters keep pointing us towards something beyond it.
Maybe the question I posted is also coming from the curiosity to understand what makes us move from the innocent, open child to this conditioned adult… and ultimately, whether the journey is not about becoming that child again, but transcending all these layers altogether.
Thank you for adding such a beautiful and thought-provoking dimension to the discussion, Sir.
Always a pleasure learning from your perspective.
Yeah of course!!! Everything contributes. Experience, challenges, expectations and pressure. It all create the whole shift. We don’t even realize how it changes us with time and we simply label it “with age comes wisdom” but “with wisdom we also lose innocence” life teaches us to put on safeguards, taking precautions and creating boundaries. We make our own circle and our safety rules after learning and regretting, it’s all is a big process of processing things.
Most of it contributed by people though 
so I always say People happen ( in a nice filtered tone) 
Since @venu Sir explained it beautifully using the example of making dosa. I also feel journey of life is a multi layer biryani, each ingredient compliments the dish. So we take lil bit of this and that and add the essence to ourself and just enjoy what we love. Now being an adult we have the wisdom of not letting the innocence go away and just live in the moment!