How to Connect With Your Inner Child and Rediscover Joy
Growing up you had so many dreams, goals, and aspirations – where did they all go? Overwhelmed by work, social life, and mundane tasks, you’ve let your dreams die. Something even worse happened: your inner child died with them. But, don’t panic – there’s a way to finally connect again with your inner child and pursue your long-gone aspirations!
In this article, you’re going to discover:
- What’s your inner child
- Why it’s fundamental for you to (re)connect with your inner child
- The clear signs you’re not living in alignment with your most authentic self
- The 5 activities that will help you connect with your inner child, again
So, are you ready to let your real self shine through and rediscover joy? Then, let’s get started!
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What Is Your Inner Child?
The first years of one’s life are the most important and defining ones. Why? Because children act like a sponge – they absorb everything!
In those first years you were alive you were unconsciously creating your inner child…
Your inner child is the subconscious part of yourself, but it controls most of your life – without you even realizing it!
It’s the sum of beliefs, convictions, and truths you have about yourself and those around you – that dictate how you carry yourself and go on about living your life.
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Why Is It Important to Connect With Your Inner Child?
“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” – Carl Jung
Healing your wounds and connecting with your inner child is the first step to taking control of your life.
Without it, you’ll navigate life based on what others and society have told you.
This might work for a while…until something breaks inside of you – and you suddenly cannot help but feel lost and wonder what the heck you’re doing!
If you take the time and put in the effort to connect with your inner child, you can rest assured that your hard work will pay off in the long run. How?
You’ll realize it when you’re amazed at yourself for living a life that’s in alignment with your core values and your most authentic self.
Your smiles will be genuine.
The feeling of joy will be uplifting.
You’ll never want to go back to living on auto-pilot, and you’ll start wondering why so many people accept to live a mediocre life that doesn’t make them happy.
PS. Unsure about what your life values are? Grab here your FREE “Core Values Workbook” and be ready to unleash your real self! 😉
Subtle Signs You Are Disconnected From Your Inner Child
How do you know if you aren’t living connected with your inner child?
Well, there isn’t a manual about this, but there are some signs you should look out for.
You’re probably not connected with your inner child if you:
- Can’t make important life decisions without asking for the advice and reassurance of others
- Struggle to set healthy boundaries with others as you fear people won’t love you (when you’re the first one not to love yourself)
- Tie your sense of self-worth to your productivity level and can’t stop feeling guilty when resting
- Can’t face uncomfortable situations, as you tend to avoid confrontation, arguments, and challenges
- Struggle to be spontaneous and can’t find the fun in life anymore
If you’re experiencing any of these, stay tuned because you’re about to discover what you can do to reconnect with your inner child in 5 easy ways! 😉
5 Healing Activities to Connect With Your Inner Child
1. Intentional reflection
It all starts with self-reflection. If you don’t ask the right questions, how can you expect to know yourself?
The first step you must take if you want to connect with your inner child is to set aside some time to intentionally reflect on yourself and your life.
Here are some questions to get you started:
- What activities did you enjoy doing as a kid?
- When do you get in a total state of ‘flow’? What are you doing when you lose track of time?
- What would you do if you were invisible or knew no one would judge you?
- What aspect of your personality do you feel like you’re hiding? Why?
- How would you like your future self to feel? What can you do, now, to start feeling this way?
PS. In need of more inspiration? Grab here your FREE “50 Journal Prompts for Self-Discovery”
2. Embrace the beginner mindset
The great thing about children is that they aren’t afraid of trying new things. Why? Because they don’t care whether they’re good at them or not!
What happens, then? Growing up, we start thinking we can commit only to what we’re good at.
We slowly start leaving out time and space for fun, creativity, and just messing around.
But, isn’t the whole point of growing up to discover new things and try them out?
Take this as your sign to let yourself embrace the beginner mindset and give a shot at anything you’d like to pursue!
You have to be bad at something before you can be good at it!
What if you enroll in a language class and realize your level is lower than you thought? You suck – so what?! You’re there to get better, aren’t you?
Are you dreaming of launching your blog but feel afraid that no one will read it – or worse, that people will read it and hate what you write? So what?! You need to write some bad articles before writing some really good ones!
Or maybe you want to try a new dance class but you’re embarrassed by your non-existent dancing skills…So what?! Let yourself be bad during the first few lessons – and trust you’ll get better!
You can get better at anything, with time.
But, you must be a beginner before becoming a master at anything 😉
3. Let your creative side come out
As you embrace the beginner mindset, you must let your creative side shine through.
Whether you’ve always wanted to try:
- Drawing
- Singing
- Dancing
- Doing pottery
- Making jewelry
- Launching a blog
- Starting a podcast
- Writing poetry online
- Making DIY clothes
- Knitting
Start doing it! What are you waiting for?!
Don’t be fooled by society and believe you can only do things for money, validation, or success.
You can do things only for the sake of doing them – because doing these things brings you joy!
Don’t know where to start?
Start by doing those things you loved doing when you were a kid!
To connect with your inner child, you must give it the time and space it needs to flourish!
Certainly, you can do that by opening yourself up to new passions, projects, and activities – who knows? Maybe you’ll find your next hobby 😉
4. Ask others
Maybe you’re having a hard time connecting with your inner child because you don’t know that well what you enjoyed doing when you were young…
I get it.
What’s the best thing you can do, in this case?
A great tip is to ask others.
Ask your parents, brothers and sisters, relatives, and old friends how you would spend your time as a kid.
Were you always writing stories and making up fake scenarios? Were you always in the kitchen, baking together with your grandma? Or did you love getting your hands dirty, always crafting and making new objects out of nothing?
But, don’t limit yourself – you can ask this question and apply it also to your current situation.
If you’re struggling to identify your skills now, instead of asking yourself “What am I good at?”, you can turn to others and ask them!
Or, just think about this:
“What is something people usually come to me for?”
Sometimes, we don’t see how good we are at something because we take it for granted, or don’t think we’re doing something that special and so play ourselves down…
But, we’re all different and we all have unique skills!
Surely, there are some areas for which people run to you to get your perspective, advice, and expertise. How can you leverage them?
If people come to you, trust me: you’re good at it – certainly better than the average! 😉
5. Take life as a game
Finally, the last tip to connect with your inner child is to always keep in mind this important life lesson: life is a game.
Yes, that’s it. Life is just a game. So…don’t take it too seriously! 😉
We’re living on a floating rock!
We’re all here for a limited amount of time, and – in 100 years – what we’ll have done (or not) won’t matter at all.
So, what are you still waiting for to go after the life of your dreams?
The truth is that adult life is not meant to be boring!
Your life shouldn’t be only responsibilities, tasks, and chores – you have the power and ability to make it fun!
A more playful approach to life not only will make your everyday life more fun but will also help you navigate difficult times with a more positive mindset. For example:
- Sad about your recent breakup? Trust that you’ll get over it!
- Worried about your layoff? Don’t panic – you can find a better job. And, if you don’t find it – you can create one for yourself! 😉
- Stressing over moving to a new city? Babe, you’ll do amazing there!
It’s not easy to maintain a playful mindset, but it’s the best way to live life!
The key here is to have fun as you try, explore, and live this uncertain – yet wonderful – ride called ‘life’.
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Conclusion
That’s all for me today!
I hope this article helped you understand the importance of healing your wounds to live a more aligned and balanced life.
There are plenty of activities you can try out to connect with your inner child but you can rest assured that these 5 are a good place to start! 😉
Your inner child has waited for you for way too long – don’t let it wait any longer…
Q: “What’s the first activity you’re going to do to connect with your inner child?” – Let me know in a comment! 🙂
Until next time,
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