Embrace Your Inner Child

Photograph by Kate Holliday Photography

You know how sometimes you look in the mirror and wonder “who is that?” You still feel like a child inside but the person looking back at you is way older than the person you feel. We should all have moments when we want to play as if we were still kids. There is an exuberance and innocence that comes with childhood. We were curious. We were thirsty for excitement and exploration. We wanted to grow and learn things that would take us to the next level. We could laugh at nothing or at everything and find joy in the smallest of things – an ice cream on a warm day, a blanket in our favorite color, a play date with a friend, a smile or hug from our parents.

Somewhere along the way many of us lost that sense of childhood. We grew up.  I truly realize that childhood is not all fun and games for many children. Many struggle to find a home, to find food, to find loving parents – things no child should ever be without. But even in the harshest of situations, many times a moment of joy can be found.

You can look at the box in which you find yourself without looking at the contents inside that may bring you down and, like a child, see it as a challenge to be creative and inventive.  We need to not live in the past but we should remember the feeling of being a child even if for only a few moments each day. Hold on to the child in you and remind yourself that even though we are all grown up that voice inside each of us that speaks to us quietly and reminds us of the child inside demands to be acknowledged periodically.  So smile, dance, laugh and just get a little silly.  There’s no better way to be reminded that we never leave behind the best part of ourselves – our ability to find joy.