Although I’ve transitioned through many bodies—a baby, toddler, child, teen, young adult, mid-life and older adult—my spirit is unchanged. I support my body with exercise, my mind with reading and writing, and my spirit with the knowing that I am part of the Divine source of all life. Don’t program yourself to break down as you age with thoughts that decline is inevitable.

It’s never too late to have a happy childhood. When you watch children playing, notice how totally involved they are in what they’re doing, how they run everywhere they go. Notice how they are oblivious to future problems almost as if they have given themselves permission to be free and they show it by becoming totally absorbed in their play. To be more childlike, you don’t have to give up being an adult. The fully integrated person is capable of being both an adult and a child simultaneously. Recapture the childlike feelings of wide-eyed excitement, spontaneous appreciation, cutting loose, and being full of awe and wonder at this magnificent universe.

The beautiful, vibrant, sprightly, wise, and witty Louis Hay has been celebrating her life ever since she discovered at around 40 years old that your thoughts can change the way you experience things. Louise says, “I return to the basics of life: forgiveness, courage, gratitude, love, and humor.”

Using these principles in the form of daily positive affirmations, it is possible to program your thoughts and transform your life. We are connected to a Source of infinite love within that we can use to heal our lives and help others do the same. Louise teaches mirror work—looking at yourself with love and gratitude always. Giving back, moving ahead, loving life, learning, and growing—this is Louise’s program for a long and happy experience here on this earthly plane.

Here are some suggestions for rediscovering your inner child:

Laugh!

The child in you, like all children, loves to laugh. Children instinctively know that the more laughter we have in our lives, the better.

Keep Fantasy Alive

Children love to dream, to make up stories, use their imaginations—and so would you if you’d let yourself. A rich fantasy life was not only great fun but also one of the healthiest aspects of your life as a whole. All of life’s best realities start with “childlike” fantasies.

Be Spontaneous

The child inside you wants to be impulsive and adventuresome, without always having to plan things in advance. Spontaneity is in many ways the key to all childlike behavior.

Accept the World as It Is (Be Trusting)

The child inside of you knows how to take things as they come, how to deal most effectively and happily with everything and everyone it encounters on this planet. If you can recapture that childlike essence of your being, you can stay forever young at heart.

These glorious childlike qualities that can help you enjoy your life each and every day are no further from you than your fingers are from your hands. They are an inalienable part of you. If you really love that child within you, and really care to be a child again in the ways I’m talking about, you cannot help but be at peace with yourself.

When you have inner peace, you can do just about anything. Give yourself more of that childlike inner peace today by letting yourself be that spontaneous, in-the-moment, fun-loving child again. Or, as Friedrich Schiller put it, “Keep true to the dreams of thy youth.”