I was recently looking through some old photos, and I came across one of me when I was probably five or six, standing outside of Toys R Us holding a big bag in my hand after my birthday. I had to smile because to a young child, it is like a dream walking around giant toy stores like that. It was interesting to me especially because just recently I had to go to Toys R Us to pick up something for Christmas for a young family member, and I was surprised as to how small the store seems now, after not being in there for many years. As a child, I could've spent hours in there, exploring what seemed like endless possibilities of toys and games in what appeared like an endless building. But what has changed from then until now? Obviously my physical characteristics, and my age and maturity, but what I found especially interesting that has changed, is my wonder and awe.

Now a toy store is an inevitable example of change as you age, because as your maturity evolves and your priorities change, toy stores don't hold much personal excitement for us as we grow. But I found it extremely interesting as to how the mind adapts and differs. I often hear people say "I am being immature", as they criticize their self. Or, "I am going back to childhood problems, I need to stop acting like a child." All with the same tone as childhood is something we simply grow out of and are never meant to return. But why we do look at childhood this way? Maybe we look at children as annoying and uneducated, but is it possible to turn those into different meanings from our now supposed "calm and purely educated" perspectives? Instead of annoying and uneducated, can we say, perhaps, excited and filled with wonder and awe?

If we think back to our childhood, even the most simplest of activities we took in with the utmost intensity and focus. Going to the movies was an experience of vibrant colors and new and grand sounds from the screen. Attending a new city or area filled our minds with all sorts of imaginative ideas and possibilities. We were creative, spontaneous, interested and infatuated with how big the world seemed, and all there was to learn and understand. If only we could look at the world now with same focus and wonder!

There is a concept in Zen Buddhism known as 'Shoshin', or, "Beginner's Mind". It encourages an attitude of eagerness and openness to the world, without any preconceptions of things. Training the mind to be flexible receptive to all the information the world has to offer. Rather than our conventional state of mind, where we find our thoughts tightened and hardened, focusing on this "Beginner's Mind" releases us from any shackles we were previously held with. Children are naturally creative. They see the world in a much different way, and look at problems in a much more creative and unconventional way. This is certainly not the time to hand your business or management over to a four year old, but it is the time to allude back to this childhood creativity and wonder, and apply it to our lives today.

What we must strive for, is unlocking this "Beginner's Mind", and add it to our education and wisdom and advantages we gain as we grow. To look at the many challenges and obstacles we face creatively and differently than others. To ask the simple questions that are so easily looked over, but still apply our many years of discipline we have gained with our age and experiences. To apply the childlike joy and happiness to our business fields, or education, or sports, and turn the long hours of hard work- into times of pleasure and fun.

Like children, strive to evolve to a state of mind that thinks beyond words, whether it be spatially, visually, or intuitively, and increase our mental capability to access unconscious and preverbal forms of creativity. When we let our childlike spirit take control, it unlocks the opportunities that so often looked over. It allows to surpass the limitations and confines that society almost forces us to conform to. To transcend the tightened grooves our minds our set in, and let our true creativity fully flow through the "Beginner's Mind".

I challenge all of you today: unlock your Beginner's Mind. Let your childlike joy, wonder, and excitement combine with the skills you develop as you move through your journey. You will find that you grow far more than anyone who ever tells you to leave your childhood fully behind. -Hunter Jones

" In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few." - Shunryu Suzuki