Every Adult Has an Inner Child
For most people, childhood is a symbol of purity, innocence, vitality, and happiness. Who wouldn’t want to go back to that time when everything was laughter and love, the time when your biggest worry was which dessert mom had prepared? What if we still had a bit of that inner child hidden within us? Maybe when we worry about renewal, happiness, and enjoying all the little details in life, we’re simply expressing the need to give a voice to this wise inner child. And we must listen to it now and then.
Your vitality is your inner child speaking to you
Old age is more than just a physical change, it’s also an attitude. When you lose your curiosity, as Saramago would say, you stop being a child. Maybe that’s why we all long for those times when we see a child smile, because that child has no worries or responsibilities.
One of the demands of adulthood is looking towards the future and recognizing that what we do today has consequences over time. Similarly, being an adult also means being responsible for our own actions and taking care of the people we love.
While you should keep this in mind, you can’t forget about your inner child, the one that pushes you to be creative, to rejuvenate yourself, to never stop being young. Thanks to your inner child, you never stop believing in life.
When was the last time you thought about what truly makes you happy?
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is an unbeatable lesson about who we are: adults who have forgotten about themselves. Thanks to books like this, we are able to realize that we all have an inner child that enjoys the little details of life, that accepts who we are. It is true that “what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
“The grown-ups’ response, this time, was to advise me to lay aside my drawings of boa constrictors, whether from the inside or the outside, and devote myself instead to geography, history, arithmetic and grammar…Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.”
-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince-
If we were more tolerant of the part of ourselves that asks us to distance ourselves from the negativity of the adult world, we would also realize that sometimes what makes us happy is far from obvious. Therefore, taking an innocent, fresh look can help you realize this much sooner than if it were plagued by the world of the ordinary.
Accept your inner child and look at the world with new eyes
Adulthood might be nothing more than a change in perspective, given that we go from being amazed at everything around us to being afraid when something deviates from normal. Is it not true that normal things can be seen through extraordinary eyes? Maybe this is the key: being amazed at the world as if every day you saw it for the first time, like someone who is about to receive the greatest serendipity of their life. In that way, you’ll enjoy valuing what you don’t usually see around you.
There’s nothing wrong with letting your inner child out. This doesn’t meaning you’re renouncing your adult side, just that you’re arriving at a balance between the two that allows you to both deal with your life and accept the extraordinary things in it. Looking at the world through adult eyes is necessary, but painting it with the details from your inner child is amazing.
“We’re looking at the abyss of old age, and children come from behind and push us in.”
-Gómez de la Serna, Greguerías-
Be reasonable and listen to your inner child, because it has more lessons to teach you than you think, and all of them will lead you towards happiness. Don’t lose your curiosity, your desire to have a good time, or your innocence. Analyze the world the way the little prince would, and try to get to a place where your eyes won’t interfere.