Take A Cue From The Kid In You

When you think about yourself as a child, what comes to mind?  What experiences do you remember?  What emotions do you feel?  Do you still feel the presence of your younger self in things that you do today? We all have an inner child that lives in our hearts, and I personally have a lot to learn from mine!

Photo by Studio Eiler @studioeiler

Fall always seems to bring excitement to my soul. The smells and sights of the season always seem to take me back to my childhood.  I feel a warmth inside and a sense of self. The kid in me emerges and suddenly my days that are normally very routine and sometimes even robotic are filled with apple picking, decorating cookies, and eating Halloween candy while watching scary movies.  I find myself daydreaming of family tailgates at football games, carving pumpkins with my husband, traveling home for the holidays, and laughing with my long-distance friends who I have been away from for too long. The kid in me is definitely present during this time of year, and as the days grow a little colder, my heart grows warmer with these thoughts.

While we can only travel back to our childhood through photographs, songs, and memories, we can incorporate parts of our childhood mindset into our present.  There have been many difficult days that I have daydreamed about being a kid again, and have found myself smiling at the memories of being carefree thinking about how the world seemed so big. The truth is, we can experience some of these feelings again, and use them to live a happier, more well-rounded life all year long!

5 Cues To Take From The Kid In You

Daydream to create reality

Are you thinking, “Stephanie, I barely have time to brush my teeth. How in the world am I going to set aside time to daydream?” I said this to myself, too, until I realized that I actually daydream quite often, but don’t always embrace these random thoughts.

When I was a child, I would daydream all of the time.  My daydreams excited me and entranced me, and sometimes I put so much focus on a daydream that I actually believed it to be true, or at least that it would come true some day. When you’re a kid, reality is a little blurred, and it doesn’t seem so black and white. Possibilities seems endless, and you don’t think about limitations or roadblocks.

I’ve noticed as I’ve grown older that this view has in some ways shifted.  If I do catch myself daydreaming, I quickly push these thoughts aside and try to focus more on my to-do list, or reality in general.  There’s stuff to get done, am I right?? But I’m ready to shift back to that gray area once in a while, where everything is not so set in stone, and my daydreams still hold the weight that they did when I was a child.  What we think about in our spare time can sometimes be identified as our passions, and now that we are adults, we have the resources and knowledge to make these daydreams into more of a reality. The challenge is in paying attention to our imagination, and not feeling as if we are wasting precious time by embracing these thoughts. Take a cue from the kid in you and dream big and dream often.  Daydreams can tell us so much about what we want out of this life!

Run away from home

As kids we knew that there was a big world out there to see, and we had the time and energy to explore and discover new places, even if they were only in our backyard.  As an adult, “running away from home” can represent so many things, and to me symbolizes spontaneity and adventure.  From going on a trip which might be planned or spontaneous, to taking a day off of work and doing something that you would never ordinarily be able to do on a Monday at 1:00 in the afternoon; spend time with the free spirit inside of you. I truly believe that it is important for us to hold onto our desire for adventure and impromptu experiences. When we were younger, the world held our childhood dreams and aspirations, and there was no limit in our minds to where we could go or what we could do.   Let’s keep this mentality as adults and continue to learn all that the world has to offer.

Find your playground and take a recess

Besides writing time, recess was always my favorite part of the school day. Recess was always the time of the day when I was able to run around, laugh with friends, and embrace my imagination. As adults, I believe that we crave recess just as much as kids do, but our recess looks a little different than it did when we were younger.  Since we don’t have someone telling us to go outside and play, we must give ourselves permission to make time for recess in our lives. As an adult, your playground could be anything you’d like it to be — a concert venue, a pumpkin patch, an art store, a nature trail, the gym. Think of a place where you are able to be imaginative and free. This place should bring you pure happiness and excitement, and might make you feel warm and enlightened in your heart. Your “playgrounds” might not necessarily always make you feel like a kid or bring back childlike memories, but they will bring you those feelings of pure joy and freedom that you felt as a child when you once stepped foot on that magical playground that held endless possibilities of fun.  Where is your playground?  Do you have more than one?  Allow the kid in you to take time for recess and visit these places often, by yourself or with the ones you love.

Schedule more play-dates

Relationships can be the heart and soul of our lives.  The relationships in my own life energize me and provide me with inspiration. Special people in my life have the ability to bring me back to myself.  I laugh with them, I cry with them, I reminisce with them, and together we discover new possibilities in this life.   As children we were so busy having fun that we didn’t even realize how many memories we were making in those moments, and for me personally most of these memories included my friends and family.  Childhood was one constant reel of new memories and experiences, each one packaged perfectly with distinct emotion and perception.

I think that sometimes as we get older and our focuses and priorities shift, “play-dates” become more difficult to schedule. I know that I have had relationships become distant, and some have altogether drifted away. I truly believe that the pureness of friendship is one of the most important cues that you can take from the child that lives within your heart. Whether you have friends and family near or far, make time with them to laugh, share stories, and simply be a part of each other’s lives. Relationships are the foundations of a happy, playful life.

Have a Fearless Heart

Having a fearless heart might seem cliché, but in my opinion is one of the most difficult yet critical cues we can take from our inner child.  Kids dive headfirst into whatever they do.  They ask questions, they speak their mind, and they try new things every day without hesitation.  I am not saying to be reckless with our choices and actions, but rather confident, bold and courageous. As a young child I was rarely afraid of getting hurt or being perceived in a certain way.  Situations did not always work out the way I wanted them to, and I made a lot of mistakes, but I also felt a lot of joy and success from other moments. I took a shot, I gave things a try, and I created stories.

Memories are nothing without emotion, and emotion cannot be felt unless we experience life, setbacks and all.

Some of my memories make me smile, and others make me cringe, but they are mine and they have made me who I am today. While it’s fun to retell these stories over and over again, we must continue to create new memories to retell throughout our adulthood of times when we had a fearless heart. We must continue to create stories where we took risks, failed, rose above, discovered a new passion, or created something new.  These bold experiences fuel our passions and our enthusiasm towards life, and can happen at any point if we exist with a fearless heart.

Our childhood self lives on inside of our mind and our heart.  While we must embrace time and the idea of getting older, we should also embrace our inner child, and continue to learn and grow from this part of ourselves! Embrace friendships, make time to play, run away for a little while, and dive into your life heart first.  Feel the emotion of memories being made from the risks that you take, the mistakes that you make,  and your celebrations and successes.  Create new stories that you cannot wait to retell!

See you on life’s playground!

Wishing you zest & light,
Stephanie

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27 thoughts on “Take A Cue From The Kid In You

  1. GosH I need the play dates. But when everyone has one million things to do it’s so hard trying to get together. I have become such a recluse! Ugh. I do day dream alot though. It’s something that keeps my mind going and imaginative. Nice tips!

    1. I do agree, it is SO hard to schedule times together sometimes, but when we finally do it feels so amazing! I always have such a light, happy feeling after seeing my friends, even if it takes a little extra effort sometimes. I hope you are able to get together with some special people soon! Thanks so much for reading, La Shell, and for visiting Citrus & Sun!

  2. Seriously, every time I read one of your posts, it makes the world around me seem more beautiful! I love your thoughts and beautiful writing! Have an awesome Tuesday :)!

    1. Oh my goodness, thank you so much, Milda! This just brightened my day! I appreciate your feedback more than words can say, and I am so thankful that we are connected!! Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you have had a beautiful Tuesday, too!!

    1. Memories that make us laugh are the best, especially if we are able to tell them as funny stories over and over again =) Thanks so much for taking the time to read my post!

    1. Thank you, Amanda!! I am so happy that you stopped by Citrus & Sun!! I appreciate your feedback so much!

  3. I love the advice on finding your playground and being a kid! My place would have to be the beach! I feel like a kid again when I am with my kids there and making sand castles and eating chips(that may have sand in them!). I also agree about pushing your daydreams to the side. I don’t even realize I’m doing it to myself because I always have a list of things to do however I feel like daydreaming helps me be more creative! I love your personality flowing from your writing!

    1. Hi, Amanda! Oh I just love the beach, too! I am sure going there with your kids totally brings out the kid in you. How fun! The part about eating chips that may or may not be sand-covered made me laugh out loud! haha This memory makes your experience at the beach unique and memorable, and a funny memory to tell!! Thanks so much for sharing it with me. I truly appreciate your feedback, and I am happy that you stopped by Citrus & Sun! =) Thank you for reading!

  4. Stephanie,
    I love your posts! They get me thinking and always bring back forgotten memories of good times! Thanks!
    Keep on sharing!

    1. Thank you, Sarah! Having a fearless heart is something that I am currently working on, too. It’s not always easy! Thanks so much for reading!

  5. Beautiful writing as always, friend! I truly love reading your posts! They always make me smile and warm my heart! So many wonderful memories popped up while reading this and I totally agree with you about recess and allowing our minds to daydream! I used to daydream so much and then priorities and the daily grind happened… I need to have more time that I allow myself to reminisce . Thanks again for a fantastic post!

    1. Thanks so much, Erin!! It is so difficult to find time to daydream and to even pay attention to those daydreams!! Hopefully we can make some time for “recess” during this lovely holiday season, right? =)

  6. Oh lovey !! I love the play dates !! You brought me to tears yet again with this post. Our day dreams , and reels of our life are so important.
    That part spoke to me as I re live the stories , and daydreams through my grand children !!
    I’m running away from home, but running towards my play date with my Heart of hearts !! You !

    1. Michele!! I LOVED our playdate and am so happy that we make time to have them often. They make my heart and my soul SO happy. Thank you so much for reading my post, I am so thankful to have you in my life!!

    1. Thank you, Holly! Yes, I am sure that kids totally help bring out the inner child. I teach Kindergarten and they definitely keep me on my toes and appreciating the little things in life! Thank you for stopping by Citrus & Sun!

    1. Thanks, Emily!! Yes, I truly feel that we all need to bring out our inner child once in a while. I do feel like it’s so much easier to do around the holidays with all of the memories of childhood that come to mind! Thank you so much for reading and commenting!

    1. Hi Caroline! Having a fearless heart is something that I am continuing to work on. It’s not easy sometimes =) I’m so glad you are able to take this idea and put it towards your business!! Thanks so much for stopping by Citrus & Sun, and for sharing my post!! I hope to see you back!

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