By Sunny Simon
During a coaching session, a client remarked she was on a mission to find her “inner child.” Her words inspired me. I had never really thought much about the subject so I did some research.
Of course we have an inner child because once upon a time we were children. Who is this little person part of your inner being? Answer: your inner child is the fun loving, happy, frivolous, joyful, humorous you. It’s the “you” before you changed into the sophisticated, mature, solemn, and task-oriented you of today. Remember the younger you? Can you recall the era when the only serious decision you made was which flavor ice cream to select at the local Baskin Robbins?
Experts say we should embrace our inner child. Why? As adults, we obsess too much over little things. Kids are carefree. They do whatever they enjoy. Children neither jam their calendars with meaningless events because it is expected, nor obsess over calories or go nuts if the house isn’t spotless. What they do is laugh, a lot. I mean really laugh, not just let out little giggles. Children roll on the floor letting out big belly laughs. According to information released from the Mayo Clinic, hearty laughter reduces stress by stimulating circulation and acting as an aid to muscle relaxation. No wonder kids lead a stress free life.
When it comes to activities, kids are master event planners. Ask a child what they like to do and prepare to be bombarded with seventy-nine trillion fun-filled ideas. For example, children love picnics. They don’t mind ants (some have even been known to eat them) and they are okay with getting dirty. The best thing about kids is they know how to play. It’s spontaneous with them. They do not have to jam it into their activity list. Just watch a child at play. It’s exhausting! They whirl and dig and zoom and jump. They tumble and skip and hop and twirl. Kids are experts at squeezing every ounce of fun out of their day.
I definitely see the benefits in finding my inner child. As of today, I am resolving to spend more time with people under the age of five. My desire is to be a person who knows how to have fun and play for play’s sake. I’m going to lighten up, laugh more and not take myself so seriously. How about it? Are you in?
