Courage and Honesty

I heard a lovely story at the weekend about my nephew. It was his first day at school and his parents asked him how it went. ‘Hari c-r-i-e-d’ he said (he doesn’t use I or me yet). Then the mite went on to give his folks a demonstration of how he had cried at school. Showered with lots of hugs and kisses he settled down for his afternoon nap.

Hearing this little snippet nearly brought tears to my eyes, when I look around and see the damage our conditioning has caused us as adults; after a bad day we’re more likely to open the refrigerator door and stuff our feelings with food, drown them in alcohol or send them up in a puff of smoke. This little child could answer his parents question with ruthless honesty, without feeling any embarrassment, in doing so, much of the stress and anxiety he experienced on his first day at school would have been released. What would happen if we could tap back into the honesty and courage we once possessed as children and communicate from that place more often?