Your Inner Child Is Still Waiting for You to Slow Down

You weren’t always this exhausted.

There was once a version of you who knew how to wonder, who paused to watch dust float in the sunlight or danced barefoot in the grass for no reason.

She didn’t rush. She noticed everything.

As a nun, I volunteered for the after-school program at the parish church near our convent.

One day, I was passing out coloring pages to the kindergartners and hurrying to prepare the next activity. One of the boys looked up at me with wide eyes and said, “Sister, you forgot to color.” He held out a purple crayon.

In that moment, I saw myself all grown up and moving too fast even to pick up a crayon. This child reminded me that slowing down was an invitation to presence.

As adults, we trade in our crayons for calendars.

We push. We power through. We silence the tiny hopeful voice inside us because there’s always another deadline, another message, or another expectation.

Your inner child still wants to color outside the lines.

She needs you to breathe and to remember that slowing down is how you return to yourself.

Reflection

Micro-mindfulness is how you reconnect.

What if today you paused for 30 seconds and asked, “What would 7-year-old me need right now?”

Then give her that with no guilt and no justification.

A Mindful Journal Prompt Today

What piece of your childhood joy can you bring back into your life this week, even for one tiny moment?

Photo of practicing the art of slowing down, Gig Harbor, WA