I may be in my 40’s now but that hasn’t stopped me from tapping into the little kid that still lives within me. Each and every one of us has a little boy or girl still inside. Unfortunately, too many of us are told to put on our “big boy or girl pants” or to just plain grow up. While in some moments that may be important, there are plenty of others where it’s equally as important to remember and honor one’s inner child.
For years, I neglected my own. During all that time, I hung around people who I allowed to abuse me. In each of those terrible moments, I could feel a little kid inside me crying and wanting to feel loved and accepted. I ignored those pleas and cries and avoided doing most of the things that this little child within liked doing. My whole world gravitated towards being a strict and closed minded adult. As a result, I grew more and more miserable and found it harder to smile about anything. When I finally removed all the people in my life that told me I had to be a certain way, that were toxic, or that didn’t accept me for me, I began to honor my inner child. As time has moved forward since then, I have tried to do things daily that honor this little kid that lives within me.
One of those happens on many mornings where I wake up and grab myself a bowl of some type of cereal and watch cartoons, mostly superhero based. It was something I did throughout all of my childhood that brought me great joy and truthfully still does. There are many other things as well though that I do now to respect the little boy that lives within me who I once did my best to keep tucked away. I go out for gooey ice cream sundaes. I jump up on shopping carts and ride on them when I’m leaving a store. I make goofy faces and odd noises. I play board games. I mix weird food combinations together just to see what it tastes like. I like to make roaring fires and toast marshmallows. I sleep next to a teddy bear. I enjoy telling corny jokes that an eight year old might say. I take great pleasure in playing in the sand at the beach. And well, I could go on and on.
It’s not that I am a kid all the time either. I have learned in my closer relationship with God that life is all about balance. There are times I know I need to be a grown up and there are times I know it’s ok to be a kid. The main point though is allowing both to exist equally. Too many adults are doing what I did for years where they feel as if they need to “act their age” all the time. I have found in doing so, it only brought on more sadness and misery because I neglected a part of someone still living inside me.
I encourage everyone today to take a moment, breathe, and do your best to find and spend some time with your inner child. I’m sure there was at least one time in your life where you loved being a kid and were able to find great happiness and delight in doing something simple. Try to focus in on remembering just one of those things and then do it. You might actually find it brings a huge smile onto your face and allows you to feel something you haven’t felt in a very long time…the joy of being a kid again.
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson