In this busy fast paced world of adult responsibility, I wonder do you take yourself too seriously just to keep up? With bills to pay, deadlines to meet, promises to keep… it can all get a bit fraught can’t it?!
It’s easy to overlook that inside of you, in a place deep within your outer shell of your adult self, lives the little girl or boy you once were. You don’t change into someone else even though it might seem to others that you have changed. You have simply grown. Just like a tree grows rings as it grows, we grow layers of ourselves.
I often talk to my clients about this idea and how we might see ourselves as a kind of Russian Doll – you know the ones with the big doll on the outside and you lift the body and there’s an ever smaller one inside? That’s like you. Sometimes when life gets tough and you find yourself perhaps even in need of help with anxiety, it’s not necessarily you on the outer shell who is having a wobble, but one of your younger selves inside. This is because the mind is always searching for how to make sense of any current situation and it will associate to any past experiences that might have been similar, to find out how to react just now. If the association isn’t a pleasant one, chances are you will become anxious about handling a similar situation now.
Ask yourself this: If you could go back and talk to your younger self at a certain age, what might you want them to know to reassure them? Do you often judge yourself harshly and criticize or are you loving and encouraging? I’ve learned to pay attention to my self talk because when you talk to yourself badly, it’s often your younger self who absorbs and you shrink a little more inside which kills your self esteem.
Imagine verbally attacking a young child and imagine how that child would react. It doesn’t feel good to do that, does it? Chances are you’d want to give that child a hug, tell him or her it will be OK, that you are their friend not their enemy and that you are there to love and support them in any way you can. Wouldn’t that make your inner child want to run and play?
Let your younger self join the party of living life within your adult outer casing now. So be kind to yourself, find every opportunity to think positively and create lighter moments of fun in your day. You will start a chain reaction of positive energy that will lift you and calm you and encourage your inner child inside to play. I’m right here to support you with Tuesday Choose Day – a perfect opportunity every ‘ChooseDay’ to find ways to choose to banish anxiety and let your inner child play! Just click the link to sign up for FREE today.
Until next time. Enjoy x
Do you feel powerless, anxious and overwhelmed to make change happen in your life? I’d like to offer you an immediate opportunity to take a break from your stresses and anxieties. CLICK TO DOWNLOAD my FREE De-Stress Audio.
Lisa Skeffington, Anxiety Expert – Anxiety Help Bournemouth
