How to Transform Your Life by Letting Your Inner Child Out
For many of us, if we remember our childhood and can describe it we will realize that this stage was the basis of our life, we were more naïve, we had greater capacity for amazement, were more emotive, flexible, playful, sincere, and optimistic, most of all we were open to express ourselves and ask anything.
When we start growing we are like sponges that absorb a limited quantity of information from society, religion, politics, and other patterns of behavior. Rules for living in society make us disconnect from our essence of the child within us. At around 3-5 years most children learn moral judgments and values, behavioral patterns that form the self and identity which remain stable through life, like personality types.
Throughout life we are often hit with negativity darts that come from family, friends, and colleagues, little phrases repeated like robots and we repeat them as well. Those phrases can cause scars for a lifetime and affect our adult life and relationships.
Its different receiving positive comments from those that surround us such as than to receive negative ones. Things that affect us during childhood affect our whole life, if we have contact with our inner child we can heal many situations, understand and grow with confidence through life..
There are techniques in psychology that revive certain moments of childhood that give the answer why and how we behave as adults. Why we can’t be happy in love, why you can’t have something stable, or how you behave with your kids are some of the questions that can be resolved if we listen to and liberate our inner child. If we don’t resolve these issues we can drag unnecessary weight for a long time.
In order to grow as adults we need to listen to the child that we once were. This child is sympathetic, joyful, capable of having a good time with little. This child also suffered with broken dreams and frustrations and may also have blocked some of these painful experiences.
Our inner child is our essence and has answers to questions nobody can answer. Its important to behave in some ways as a child, living life to the fullest, laughing again with enthusiasm and letting all worries of adult situations into a corner for at least a couple of hours.
6 recommendations for meeting your inner child again:
• Try to remember alone and with others your childhood memories and how fresh it was. If you were hurt or you ignore why you felt ashamed at some moment, accept that you were hurt and try to heal and forgive. We cannot justify the bad actions of others, we can try to understand and go on. This might be difficult and if traumatic childhood memories are there tears are going to come. Its fine that not all childhood memories are sweet, we need to remember both and accept them as part of our life. Accepting is not the same as justifying. Some things like aggression or abuse cannot be justified. We can try to forgive others, but not forget our memories. This could be extremely painful for some people and they probably block access to painful experiences during childhood. We cannot force memory, we need to be receptive to things that remember our childhood, since they are like direct gates to our past. If you don’t have many memories don’t force them, they will come by themselves.
• Make stories and memories about your childhood. Try to say at least to yourself, or you can tell someone of trust about your childhood, passing through bad and good memories. You can write a diary or write notes about it, personal or shared, about people that have defended you or hurt you and why it’s important.These two exercises have the objective of identifying patterns and remembering things that might cause you fear or happiness, this by itself will allow a more fluent emotional experience.
• Establish a daily talk with your inner child. Speak with him, make him a partner in your decisions. Remember the innocence, the enthusiasm, and the energy. Try to ask what that child feels or thinks. Ask your inner child what should you do, make him your counselor. Passion and joy, flexible and adaptable, are fundamental characteristics in your inner child you can focus on when you make decisions.
• Play more, worry less. Life is not a game, however we can make it fun and play more frequently. Playing sports, video games, spending time with your kids, building blocks or dolls will light up the kid you still are. Take a break, watch cartoons, relax and try to enjoy little things in life. Childhood is opposed to luxury, sophistication, or hypocrisy. Play like a child and you will be more closer to yourself.
• Go for an ice cream, sing in the rain, look for shapes in the clouds, take a ride on your bike, remember those little rituals you had when you were a child. Recover your power to amaze yourself, be curious and passionate about your findings.
• Always remember to smile, be thankful, and embrace your inner child. This child will always be within us.
How to Transform Your Life by Letting Your Inner Child Out
By Andre Carvajal
Edited By Stephanie Dawson
[Last Updated on July 15th 2014]
