[fnftwo] Snagged from a newsletter but all so true

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Life's Little Goodies: Once Upon a Time

What are your best early childhood memories, the ones up to when you were age five or so? Come take a walk with me on a short journey down Memory Lane...

Do you remember building sand castles on the beach or in a sandbox with one of your little friends, talking about magical things we've long since forgotten about as adults?

Do you remember playing hide and seek? I remember it was so hard to keep quiet when someone was close to me but hadn't discovered my hiding spot yet. I always wanted to bust out laughing.

Do you remember how good popsicles were on a hot summer day? Few things tasted better to me. What was your favorite flavor?

Do you remember the first time a friend stayed overnight? Did you play make-believe?

Do you remember the wonderment of opening Christmas or birthday presents? What was your favorite early childhood toy?

Did you ever play in the rain until you were sopping wet? Or stomp in mud puddles or make mud pies?

One of my favorite things was climbing trees. I could be Tarzan, or the lookout on a pirate ship, or a mountain lion up in a tree.

Did you have a favorite bedtime story? One that, no matter how many times you'd heard it before, it was always as good as the first time.

Do you remember...

• warm cookies fresh from mom's or grandma's oven?
• catching fireflies?
• your first pet?
• opening a brand new box of crayons?
• Saturday morning cartoons?
• building tents with blankets and furniture?
• coloring Easter eggs?
• diving into a pile of autumn leaves?
• clomping around in your parents shoes, playing grown up?
• getting a ride on your dad's shoulders?

I hope I triggered some happy memories from your early childhood, or at least helped you to stir some up on your own.

Of course, I had a reason for our little walk down Memory Lane. Can you remember how innocent and carefree life was back then?

Do you remember what it was like to be free from worries and feeling like mom or dad could take care of anything that went wrong. Do you remember how absolutely safe you felt with them around?

That little girl or little boy that you were . . . is still inside of you. As innocent, curious, happy, and wide-eyed as ever.

Sure, the river of time may have washed away some of your conscious familiarity with who you were, and a flood of new memories may seem more relevant today, but still, that wonderful little child is in you, in your mind and heart, and still dreaming big crazy dreams and questioning a million different things.

It's so easy to forget our inner child when we have so many grown up concerns. It's so easy to pretend we've put our childhood behind us, but you know what . . . that inner child is part of who we are, right now, today, and for as long as we live.

Can our inner child bring value to our adult lives? In case you've forgotten these things about childhood:

• Children are less judgmental of others.
• Children are less fearful about being judged.
• Children are eager to try new things, and unafraid of coming up short.
• Children are naturally curious and not to proud to ask questions.
• Children are teachable, creative, and enjoy learning.
• Children are always ready to smile and laugh.

And perhaps most important of all, children are not afraid to be themselves.

Those seem like pretty good traits to keep as an adult, yet, how many of us have kind of let them slip away a little bit at a time?

Your inner child never leaves. He or she just slips quietly into the background of your life, waiting and hoping to come out and play once in a while. Waiting for us to rediscover our forgotten faces.

I invite you to take out an old family photo album and remember who you were when you were a child. Find that child within you. Enjoy the reverie. Celebrate yourself.

Every layer, every nuance, every glorious twist and turn that defines who you are is more wonderful, more beautiful, and more lovable than you know. If I could help you remember one thing about yourself, it would be this...

You are truly wonderful!

If you carry your childhood with you, you never become old.
- Tom Stoppard

He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.
- Albert Einstein

Children have neither past nor future; they enjoy the present, which very few of us do.
- Jean de la Bruyere

The great man is he who does not lose his child's-heart.
- Mencius, Book IV

There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million.
- Walt Streightiff