Get in touch with your inner child.

I loved the time when I could cry in front of my family after a cartoon character died in an animated movie. I loved the time when I could jump all over the place when I got a chocolate. I loved the time when I could sing songs in front of my sister’s classmates without even knowing who they were or what I was singing.

But things changed soon. As I grew up I got more reserved. I wanted me to be a man. I wanted to do things I was good at. I did not want to make a fool of myself in front of my classmates. I was getting self-conscious.

Now I was not doing things that gave me pleasure. My inhibitions were showing. I was suppressing myself. I was a slave to my self defined limitations.

This year, in a serious pursuit of finding my long lost happiness I started doing some soul searching. I realized I was shy to sing or dance in public. I wanted to break the shackles, I had tied myself to. After pondering for sometime I figured I had withdrawn because I did not want to accept that I was bad at singing and dancing. So I had stopped singing and dancing.

I slowly started humming the songs along with the songs played on radio not concerned about if others would be troubled by my braying. I began to realize that almost everybody had the same problem. I had closure because I accepted my shortcomings and was working on my inhibitions.

I became an active member of clubs which deal with public speaking , long distance running and theatre. I used to take dancing lessons. I have come in touch with my inner child. The feeling of “catharsis” (the release or purging of unwanted emotions) is overwhelming.

Now I dance my little Michael Jackson moves. I jump over puddles of water. I sing my John Lennon numbers. I am not worried to stand in front an audience and bore the hell out of them.

In case if you have any inhibitions, break the shackles by getting in touch with the child within you. It’s a therapeutic to have the heart of a 10 year old again.