Monday, January 31, 2011

“There you are standing right in front of me. Hold me close, cause I need you to guide me to safety"

 

 

lost

 

You live in the moment with everything that surrounds you.

You stare ahead at everything you have to chase after.

You look back to see what you have left behind.

You find yourself looking at an empty room,

As if it had always been that way.

A major part of being an adult or adolescent is being too focused on the here and now. We live in the moment and our priority is everything that is around us: Work, education, family, bills to pay, tax deadlines, Doctor appointments to name a few. We are also too focused on looking ahead at the future: Graduation, promotion, Salary pay day, up coming meetings etc. Most of our days are filled with day to day errands and activities that we feel obligated to fulfil. That is the ever day life of an adult, and more importantly, it is what the society expects us to do. When we are paying bills, attending 5-6 meetings a day, trying to catch an early train home before rush hour we are surrounded by numerous other adults who are doing the exact same. In this chaotic day to day life full of ‘grown-ups’, there is a special some-one that we ignore. Sometimes we forget that he is even there. The little child that is waiting patiently and silently for us to glance at him. We ignore ourselves.

There was a post shared with you a few months ago, about remembering your childhood that you can read or re-read here. That post talked about remembering one’s childhood and wishing to return to it from time to time. That happens to each and every one of us, no doubt. We all go through those days when the burden of tragic experience is too heavy on our shoulders and we look back nostalgically at the days of sitting  on a porch eating ice-cream without having a care in the world. This post however is about knowing that there is a child within us all the time. A child who like any other child cries when he is lost in a crowded place. The only difference is that we will run to rescue the neglected child in the crowd, whereas the child within us we will sometimes lose on purpose.

Part of growing is to learn and grasp the idea that making responsible decisions require thinking with a mature mind. A mind that is ready to take on the challenges of the future and prepared for any rollercoaster rides. A mind that can think logically, and can comprehend both sides of the problem. One that has had enough experience to be able to predict what is right or wrong. We find it improper to think with the mind-set of a nine year old. The child that only knows what he loves and what he hates. What he finds safe and what he fears. The one that whines ‘that’s not fair!’ when his desires are not fulfilled. The child that keeps his dreams, fantasies and feelings as his priorities. The one that does not care about conforming to society.

That child carries our hopes and desires and dreams. The hopes and dreams that we thought we had long lost somewhere in the past wrapped in our childhood are actually held firmly in the hands of this child. This child is one who remembers us from our innocent years and who probably knows us better than we know ourselves. When we conform to the society and make important decisions, ignoring this child is not the smartest idea. When we cannot decide on what we want, and just go along with what the society wants or what others tell us, we repress this child. If only we would look inside and ask him what he wants he would tell us what we want. The decisions we make are always going to influence us along with people around us, no doubt. However, we sometimes forget that the people we decide for are also capable of making their own decisions and at the end the one who is hurt or benefitted most by our decisions is ourselves. And if that child can influence our decisions by telling us or reminding us of what we want, then he truly deserves to be heard. The roads we travel on is very bumpy and the directions are never written there for us. It is always up to us to direct ourselves to the places we want to go. And as we all know, it’s not always clear to us where it is that we want to go. Maybe some guidance would be useful. Maybe a peak inside would help.

 

five year old

 

Yours Truly =] x

8 comments:

  1. All I can say is that was a beautiful post, and so very true. =)

    Recently I read a blog where the author wrote a letter to herself as a child. I think I might try that out as well to reconnect with my more 'innocent self'. The inner child who isn't driven by worldly desires, but rather seeks the simplicity of life.

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  2. Beautiful, as always.
    And you're right. We're so caught up in routine that we forget ourselves. In a way, we sell our selves to society and what for? A few coins?

    && the picture puts the point across very nicely!

    :)
    x

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  3. This is so sad but so true.

    Many of us sometimes forget this inner child and when we do realize it hits us square in the face. I think we should live life the way that child wants, it would be so much simpler and less complicated. All that adult stuff and responsibility messes up our head. Ever seen how a child plays? Knocks over some bricks, turns and twists something around and then moves on.
    We should let go of our maturity sometimes, it would help!

    Awesome post mann! (Y)
    x

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  4. Sara: Thanks! And you're right, its important to connect with the inner child, the one that reminds us of our innocence.

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  5. Nas: Merci! and yes I quite enjoyed looking at the picture! =]

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  6. Smiley: Nicely said! The responsibilities of the so called 'adult' are tooo much for even the adult to handle sometimes. That's when you should just take the time and go 'care-free' and as Sara said, reconnect with the inner child.

    Thanks ! x

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  7. Can't agree more!! it's like you took the words out of my mouth!

    You've an award, by moi! look it up! =)

    have a lovely weekend!

    xx

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  8. Zainab: Thank you so much for the lovely comment! I have something for you on my blog too! you should check it out! =] x

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