Perhaps an image of the first day of Kindergarten enters your head. I remember mine. I sat for twenty minutes as the nice lady quieted us all down and called each student to the front introducing and welcoming us to our class.
Much to my horror, she didn’t call on me. Petrified is too mild a word to describe my emotions. The bottom line — I was in the other Kindergarten class. She sent me downstairs and that’s when the nightmare became worse than the afternoon I saw Bambi’s Mother killed by a hunter.
Unaccountably frightened, I refused to enter the classroom. To my everlasting good fortune and proof of the importance of an understanding educator, my teacher Ms. Dorothea Hartnett sent a chair out and let me spend the day in the hall with books and toys.
The happy ending is I developed a strong trust of this kindly woman and by the second day of school was enjoying the company of my classmates. I still wonder to this day what so frightened me.
I’ve recounted this tale simply as a spark to help readers recall some of their earliest memories.
As the years go by and we are assailed by adults guiding childhood development, innate nature, desires and goals are often lost. It’s a bit of the nature VS nurture conundrum. Our parents, and virtually every form of outside stimuli often serve to sever our ties with our core being.
This isn’t a new concept. However, it’s worth exploring.
In the 21st Century mindfulness (which has been around for over 2000 years) has developed a cache and become recognized as a way of getting in touch with ourselves and experiencing life in the moment.
It’s used for stress reduction, in cognitive therapy and allows us to meet and embrace our current selves. At the same time, we gain a myriad of valuable insights that help contribute to our quality of life. Learn more about mindfulness.
Let’s dig a little deeper. Sure, it’s wonderful to enhance our daily lives.
The question is, are we simply enjoying our adult selves more, or are we getting in touch with long forgotten drives, desires and the inner core that was part of the nature component of our makeup?
Wouldn’t it be fun to relive our earliest memories and desires and then move to fulfill them? It’s not a one-step process, but there’s no time like the present to begin our journey.
Let’s begin with a short Mind Acrobatics™ exercise designed to ‘Bring Back the Glory Days.’
As with all Mind Acrobatics exercises, read it through first. This way you’ll get the concept. Then bookmark it and schedule a time to treat yourself to this fun excursion.
Mind Acrobatics Exercise: Who Am I Anyway?
- Time Needed: About 20 Minutes
- Materials: Pen, paper or journal and a favorite beverage
- Location: The most peaceful spot you can find
- Seat yourself comfortably.
- Smile for a few moments.
- Take 7, slow, deep breaths.
- Smile once more.
- Relax.
Great, you’ve put yourself in a positive frame of mind. Now let’s continue.
- Close your eyes and let your mind roam freely for a minute or so.
- Now, keeping your eyes closed try and recall your earliest recollections — don’t push — whatever comes to mind is fine.
- Do you remember sitting in a crib, your Mother cradling you in her arms, the first fall off a bicycle, your dream of being a doctor, fireman, nurse or veterinarian — it’s all good.
- After you’ve completed reminiscing open your eyes.
- Smile again and give yourself a hug — everyone can use one!
- Stand up and stretch a bit or take a short walk.
Fantastic, you’re two thirds of the way home to the beginning of a Fantastic Journey.
- Sit back down.
- With eyes open or closed begin to write in stream of consciousness all that you recall from your earliest days.
- You can include what you thought about above and whatever else comes to mind. Don’t self-censor.
- Everything is good.
- Write until the ideas stop flowing.
Congratulations. You’ve just begun to get back in touch with the primal you. It may not seem like it now, but the mind is a fascinating organ. You’ve got the synapses up and firing and you’ll be amazed at the sudden thoughts that begin to pop into your mind when you least expect them.
A great question now is — what am I doing this for? While the process of deep insight takes some time, the answer is simple. It feels good!
You are getting in touch with sensations, memories, thoughts, desires and a whole host of character traits that have been buried under a half-century or so of ‘environmental dust.’
The easiest way to explain this is to think of a young child when they first experience talking or taking their first step. Remember their gleeful expression. You are on the way to
re-experiencing some of the finest most unencumbered moments of your life.
What purpose does this serve? As we constantly strive to reinvent ourselves why not use original data (nature) as well as acquired information (nurture) that you’ve accumulated through the years.
Together they make a potent cocktail for evaluating your life, goals and all you want to accomplish. Most importantly, you’re building a blueprint for turning your dreams into reality.
Life is short and should be filled with joy and happiness. Make the most of your time. Go out and have fun!
Excerpted and adapted from the forthcoming book: Comfy in My Skin… Transformation From The Inside Out! By Dave Kanegis
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Photo credit: Andrew Spencer/Unsplash
