The Child Within - 1. It's presence

Every now and then I stumble upon people who have suppressed their inner child to such an extent that they hate seeing others who swear by their childlike innocence.

Each one of us, believe it or not, has a child within. Wanting to burst forth with joy and excitement. Wanting to be as carefree and reckless as we could possibly imagine. Some may agree. Some may not.

I, for one, love catering to my inner child. If I were to ask you - What did you enjoy doing the most when you were a kid? What would your response be? Take a moment and think about it. Recollect it. How does the memory make you feel?

Do you feel happy from within? Just by the thought of it? Or you feel sad, that you cannot do the same now, given the time and your age. In either cases, your childhood is very much alive inside of you. In the form of memories and incidents. Situations and people.

Why do you think, you smile when you see infants, toddlers and kids? What inside of you pushes you to act and behave like a child with them? Where does this come from? And why, at that time, is it okay to behave that way even if you are in front of ten adults? Simple. Because people will judge less when you behave like a kid, when you are with one. In majority of the cases, instead of being judged, you are adored for the same.

It's all because of the child which is very much alive inside of you. And it is screaming to come out in the open! Those times when you just want to do nothing, or just want to cuddle your pillow and sleep, or even just watch an anime, or feel like eating an entire pizza all by yourself, are all subtle hints of your inner child. It makes you do things you would really, really enjoy. Because the only thing the child knows is joy.

However the question is, how often do you ALLOW it the liberty to do so? I have seen people stuff their own desires and pleasures because of so many reasons. Fear of judgement, illusion of responsibility, fear of rejection and the need for perfection - to behave exactly in the way as pleases the masses, are some of the major reasons why people ignore their inner child.

In the list of all these, one reason, however, dominates. SHAME. Having been shamed for various reasons in the childhood, we tend to ignore our own needs and wants. We suppress our own selves. And that in turn leads to a lot of mental and emotional conflict. Because the heart (the place from where the inner child operates) and the mind (the place which reminds of all the wrong incidents of the past, the responsible adult) always want to go in seperate directions.

So what can be done about the same? How can harmony be achieved? Stay tuned.
To be continued..