How Reconnecting With Your Inner Child Can Change Your Life for the Better

How reconnecting with your inner child can change your life. Sometimes we abandon ourselves too early. The writer Erich Kästner coined the sad phrase: "Most people discard their childhood at some point like an old coat." By this he meant that we often say goodbye to our childhoods far too readily and far too early, for a variety of reasons.

Some have to grow up quickly because circumstances force them to do so. Those who were not allowed to experience a beautiful, harmonious childhood will not mourn it when the chance finally comes to escape it. Still other children and young people, for their part, can hardly wait to finally become adults and to be able to leave behind the many restrictions that being a child entails. At this point, few realize that this also means losing a lot of freedom and many moments of happiness.

Tearing the child in us too soon from its childishness can have ill consequences later in life. We become dissatisfied adults who constantly feel a lack, an inner hunger, who never find peace. We chase after goals and a sense of accomplishment that still does not satisfy us. A premature end to childhood can turn into an essential piece we miss for the rest of our lives.

Good thing it's never too late for a course correction here, too. We'll show you ways to bring your inner child back on board and connect with your adult self.

1. Stop the lies.

The bon mot, "Drunks and children tell the truth," is something we as serious adults should model ourselves on much more. Not when it comes to drinking, but when it comes to loving the truth. We humans sometimes have no choice but to lie. In many cases, however, the truth would be more reasonable. We are mostly just too comfortable and too in need of harmony for it. It is quicker and easier for us to have excuses and fibs at hand, which protect us from any kind of misfortune or rocking the boat.

But in fact we can think of every lie as a pinprick in our soul. Not only do we hurt other people with it, we hurt ourselves the most. Try to mobilize your inner child more. If you are caught in the dichotomy between truth and lies, let the child win more often. The people around you will probably have to bear down at first and adjust to a new way of communicating. Sooner or later, however, the new era of honesty will pay off for everyone involved. We never get very far with the short legs of our lies, anyway.

2. Question everything you don't understand.

Why? Why? Why? If you find the typical conversation with curious children exhausting, you should consider the dullness of an existence that takes everything at face value. Anyone who can no longer devote himself to the daily wonders and bizarre things that life has to offer with full interest has probably lost his spark.

Children want to understand the world. We adults, on the other hand, often consciously go through it with blinders on because we fear having to gain unpleasant insights. But it is precisely this kind of questioning that is too important for us to miss out on. Those who simply consume instead of living will miss so much that they might still discover. Are we just existing or are we living? Social norms, news, the internet, politicians' speeches and every advertising promise:

We should question everything much more. Not much of what we are served as truth every day would actually pass the litmus test. True, this questioning things might come at the risk of driving your environment and all the people in it a little bonkers, but: It pays to ask. Only those who ask can get answers and broaden their horizons.

Your inner child will be happy and applaud you enthusiastically every time you have managed to get another "I don't know" out of someone. Well done! This is the only way we can get ahead in terms of knowledge. It's the only way we can really learn anything, and knowledge is more than satisfying.

3. Be open to new things.

When was the last time you tried a new food, listened to a piece of music that wasn't really your taste, tried a new hobby, or visited a place you've never been before in your life? Children go on such adventures every day. They build castles, make vehicles out of cardboard boxes, and live at least one new life in their fantasy world every day. We adults are at some point prisoners of our routines and these, as Paulo Coelho once so poignantly noted, are truly deadly in contrast to adventure.

If you want to connect more strongly with the child within you, venture into new territory at regular intervals. These micro-ventures can begin in small increments. The important thing is that you continually work to expand your horizons and successfully break your stuckness on the hamster wheel.

4. Provide space and time for your creativity.

Crafting, painting and being creative is an important part of child development for a reason. The more we are allowed to let off steam in this area, the better our spatial imagination can develop, and with it, and get this, our problem-solving skills. Anyone who thinks that this train has sailed with the end of childhood is very much mistaken. It's never too late to let your creative potential off the leash.

It might amaze you how starved your muse is and just waiting to finally be allowed to grace you with her inspiring charms. It doesn't matter which form of expression you choose. Cooking, for example, can also release a great deal of creative potential in us. It doesn't have to be just the fine arts, although an attempt in that direction is guaranteed to be worthwhile.

5. Practice forgetting and forgiving.

How quickly children argue and how quickly they make up. After a brief but perhaps heated dispute over the last red shovel in the sandbox, they happily continue playing again, often still with the traces of angry tears visible on their cheeks. This simple way of dealing with conflicts is probably the main reason why we find it so difficult to make friends as adults.

We can no longer easily overlook when someone has disappointed or hurt us. But do we really have to take things so hard every time something derails us in the interpersonal sphere? Isn't it enough to accept an apology and look ahead? A reflection on this point is definitely worthwhile. Your inner child will definitely agree with you here.

Today’s Conclusion

Take yourself in hand. We cannot turn back time. A childhood is unfortunately a once-in-a-lifetime proposition for which there is no second chance. No matter what the reason: When it's over, it never comes back and we then have to struggle through our adult life, for better but often for worse.

Those who were allowed to be children extensively and were able to enjoy it have received a priceless starting advantage for their lives. Those who were unfortunately not so privileged can make up for some lost time. An open mind and a willing heart are the only prerequisites for this.