I hereby officially tender my resignation as an adult.

I have decided I would like to accept
the responsibilities of a 6 year old again.

I want to go to McDonald's and think
that it's a four star restaurant.

I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle
and make ripples with rocks.

I want to think M&Ms are better than money,
because you can eat them.

I want to play kickball during recess
and paint with watercolors in art.

I want to lie under a big oak tree
and run a lemonade stand with my friends
on a hot summer day.

I want to return to a time when life was simple.
When all you knew were colors,
addition tables and simple nursery rhymes,
but that didn't bother you,
because you didn't know what you didn't know
and you didn't care.

When all you knew was to be happy
because you didn't know all the things
that should make you worried and upset.

I want to think that the world is fair.
That everyone in it is honest and good.

I want to believe that anything is possible.

Somewhere in my youth, I matured
and I learned too much.

I learned of nuclear weapons, war, prejudice,
starvation and abused children.

I learned of lies, unhappy marriages,
suffering, illness, pain and death.

I learned of a world
where men left their families
to go and fight for our country,
and returned only to end up
living on the streets
begging for their next meal.

I learned of a world
where children knew how to kill and did!

What happened to the time
when we thought that everyone would live forever,
because we didn't grasp
the concept of death?

When we thought the worst thing in the world
was if someone took the jump rope from you
or picked you last for kickball?

I want to be oblivious to the complexity of life
and be overly excited
by little things once again.

I want to return to the days
when reading was fun
and music was clean.
When television was used to report
the news or for family entertainment
and not to promote sex,
violence and deceit.

I remember being naive and thinking
that everyone was happy because I was.
I would walk on the beach
and only think of the sand between my toes
and the prettiest seashell I could find.

I would spend my afternoons
climbing trees and riding my bike.

I didn't worry about time, bills
or where I was going to find
the money to fix my car.

I used to wonder what I was going to do or be
when I grew up, and not worry about what I'll do
if this doesn't work out.

I want to live simple again.

I don't want my day to consist of computer crashes,
mountains of paperwork, depressing news,
how to survive more days in the month
than there is money in the bank,
doctor bills, gossip, illness
and loss of loved ones.

I want to believe in the power of smiles,
hugs, a kind word, truth, justice,
peace, dreams, the imagination, mankind
and making angels in the snow.

I want to be 6 again!