SUSTAINING OUR INNER CHILD

An advertisement currently appearing on American television, promoting car manufacturer Dodge and the all-new Hornet R/T, has caught my attention because of its use of one’s inner child.  According to information on the Hornet R/T, “The ad takes viewers to the side of the road where a man comes face-to-face with a familiar-looking boy and quickly finds himself on a joyride with his inner child. His ‘inner child’ hits the gas and zooms through the streets while schooling him on what he really needs in life, reminding him that ‘horsepower keeps you going, but torque gets you going.’”

Marriage and family therapist Catia Hernandez Holm tells us, “Within every person, there is a child. That child is filled with wonder, creativity, and the belief that anything is possible.” The inner child from the Dodge advertisement and the child Catia Hernandez Holm talks about is the part of us that remembers the joy of childhood and takes us back to a time when:

• we were free spirits
• our imaginations would run wild
• we were creative beyond reason
• our days were filled with laugher, fun, joy, and play
• we were wildly happy about anything and everything
• curiosity drove a lot of what we did
• we weren’t afraid to take a risk or make a mistake
• we bounced back from any type of daily disruption
• we lived in the moment

Yes, indeed.  Our inner child is the fun-loving part of us that we need to continually sustain because s/he allows us to approach situations with resilience, joy, happiness, creativity, and enthusiasm.  As adults, sometimes just dealing with the day-to-day things that come our way stretch us to the limit and at times, it doesn’t take much for us to reach a breaking point and feel quite stressed.  When we are stressed or when we are dealing with situations that throw us off course (as unwanted or unexpected change often does), it doesn’t take much for us to throw up our hands and feel like calling it quits.

Sustaining our inner child and allowing her/him to emerge and guide us especially when we feel overwhelmed or stressed can be positive and rewarding for us.  Six ways we can sustain our inner child are:

Living in the present moment.  Be present now.  Let the past go for a moment and don’t think about the future for a moment.  Get into what is happening here and now. 

Remaining open to wonder and awe.  Young children seem to find awe and wonder in the simplest and smallest of things.  We need to go back to a time when we were impressed by things.  Avoid being cynical. Look for the extraordinary in the ordinary.  We need to look at everything as if we were seeing it for the first time.  Quieting the mind and allowing ourselves to see and sense what is around us will help us be awestruck. 

Doing something that brings a smile to our hearts and our faces. Dance when hearing a favorite song.  Sing along with a favorite song.  Pull out the coloring book and crayons and maybe even color outside the lines.  Blow bubbles.  Create with play doh.  Run through a puddle.  Just do something fun.

Avoiding placing conditions or limits on what we desire.   We need to remain open at all times to receive the unexpected as well as what we think is coming.  Starting each day with an open mind about opportunities that may come our way and being ready for the who, what, where, when, and why of each day will go a long way in keeping our inner child happy and healthy.

Letting our imagination run wild and free.   Imagination is the ability of our minds to form pictures of something we have not seen or experienced or to think of new ways to use common things.  It is the creative part of our minds.  Our imagination allows us to look at things from a different point of view. 

Giving ourselves permission to make mistakes.  Young children don’t fear making a mistake.  When they do, they learn from it.  The figure out what they did wrong and work to right it.  We need to do the same.

When we sustain our inner child, we are more apt to see the magic in and find the fun and joy in simple things.  This is childlike wonder and it allows us to:

• have little or no fear of the unknown
• venture out of our comfort zone
• be imaginative and creative
• have little or no fear of failure
• be a visionary
• take on challenges
• believe we can achieve whatever we conceive
• try new things

It is these qualities of childlike wonder that help us when we feel overwhelmed or are stressed.  Approaching challenging situations with childlike wonder opens up endless possibilities for us. This approach allows us to be more creative, imaginative, innovative, divergent, or just plain different in how we deal with or solve whatever we’re facing.  Remember, our inner child exudes unbridled joy, boundless energy, a free-spirited nature, a wild imagination, creativity, happiness, enthusiasm, resilience, stamina, laughter, fun, curiosity, and a sense of wonder.  These are exactly the characteristics we want working for us when we are stressed or when we deal with challenging situations.  We need to take good care of our inner child so the skills s/he possesses are at our disposal anytime we need them.