Mindi from Cape Town Africa recently wrote to me…
I appreciate your generosity of soul. What I was wondering is whether my endless efforts to grow beyond my early conditioning are a bit unrealistic because of my age, which is over 80. The older I get, the more I feel that the challenges which life brings me are to help me grow, no matter what it takes.
Rhythm is my addiction, in dancing, drums and poetry. Am I childish, or have I just retained the magic of childhood??
I would appreciate some validation from you – perhaps you hear from others with similar concerns? (I do not fit into my chronological age group, so don’t know whether I am a misfit or an example of a future culture)
Thank you.
Love,
Mindi (Cape Town)
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Here’s my reply…
GO FOR IT! 
Love the childlike nature and go with it. There is magic in it, and embracing that magic is actually one of the keys to positively growing and transforming from the challenges you face.
There’s a quote I love from George Bernard Shaw:
“We don’t stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing.”
Having “play” in your life is fundamental to happiness, and it’s only your Inner Critic that is trying to convince you otherwise. The challenge is that as long as your Inner Critic continues to control your life, you’ll always seek validation from others. You’ll often subconsciously sabotage yourself when you have “too much fun,” “get too close” to somebody, or in your case get “too childlike.”
Part of the reason you are seeking my validation is because in early childhood, your Inner Critic actually was created -by- the outer validation that others provided you. it was created for an important reason…
Parents, peers, teachers, and other authority figures made it clear what you had to do to be accepted, to be loved, and ultimately to survive socially in the world. And based on what you’ve shared, the most likely reason is that you probably and some significant disempowering experiences that suggested you would be accepted more easily if you suppressed or rejected your playful nature and instead acted “more like an adult.”
(or some other similarly un-childlike and disempowering phrase)
The Inner Critic is the outdated aspect of your subconscious that controls your limiting beliefs and it limits how much happiness and playfulness you’ll allow yourself to experience.
Since your Inner Critic is outdated and doesn’t know who you REALLY are, the only way it will personally allow you to enjoy your life is if you receive external validation that what you’re doing (having fun) is “okay” and that your playful nature will be accepted by the social circles you are a part of.
While telling your Inner Critic to “shut up” (or use more profane language) can be effective in the short term, it doesn’t last long and sometimes even backfires. The only way to get that Inner Critic out of the way is to develop total understanding as to why it continues to bring old, outdated, and ineffective beliefs into your present life… and then with that understanding, you’ll be empowered to silence it.
About Chris Cade:
Chris Cade calls himself a reluctant hero. He is a second-degree black belt and martial arts Champion who has swum with wild dolphins and tested software to find the bugs.
His journey – leaving a six-figure income and corporate life with Hitachi and Adobe for a spiritual one – has rewarded this visionary with the most popular spiritual story site on the internet.
A graduate of The Monroe Institute’s Gateway Voyage program, and a student of The Diamond Approach, Chris is a spiritual teacher, lecturer, and father to four-year old son, Quantum.
>>>Find Out How The Desire For “Fast Results” Is Rooted In Our Early Experiences As A Helpless Infant<<<
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Thank you.
