The other week we were looking at our inner child. We looked back to remember what we liked to do as a kid and could we do it again. Often what we enjoyed doing as a child can get forgotten in our busy adult lives but that could be your core happiness just waiting to be rediscovered.
When you look back you might also find a negative experience. You remember what you were feeling, thinking and doing and it can still affect you today.
What is so important here is that this is relevant to everyone, even those whose childhood was wonderful. It doesn't just have to be trauma that can affect you later, it can be as simple as a memory when you felt left out and not picked by someone. It could be when you parents didn't celebrate something that was so important to you. Maybe you moved house a lot so didn't feel as settled or make the friends that other people seemed to have.
The point is we all had moments of sadness, anger, frustration, loneliness. There were times when we felt unloved, unseen, unheard and these unmet needs live on in us today.
When we go back and take care of our inner child, we can help her heal and therefore allow yourself the freedom to move on.
These feelings were totally valid at the time for a child but with all the knowledge and wisdom you now have as an adult we can comfort that inner child and reassure them that we are not going anywhere, they are not alone and they have all that they need inside of them.
Going back to a time that we remember, visualising how we were, what we looked like and how we felt and then taking time to reassure that little version that is you, that it is OK, that you coped, that you are happy and that it doesn't always have to be like this.
I can picture my adult self giving the child version of myself a hug and crouching down by her as she sits on a sofa, looking deep into my eyes. I know I carry her pain with me, but I know that she has released it to me because I can cope with it, I understand it and I know that it will not hold me back anymore.
I want you to be able to feel the same.
Here are some journalling questions to prompt you to think a little deeper about your inner child:
What is the one thing that your inner child is afraid of?
What does she need to not feel afraid anymore?
What can you give to ensure your inner child feels safe?
How have you treated your inner child in the past?
What can you do now to treat them with love and kindness?
What did you used to do as a child that you loved?
Take your time answering these questions. Some might being you pain, others a freedom and a release from the past. It is important to confront these feelings so that they don't hang around you forever weighing you down. Everytime you explore more into you, you become more self aware and your journey to being more confident is building.
Now your mission is to reconnect with your inner child and go and have some fun doing what you loved when you were little...I wonder what that will be?
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