The Boy of 7:

DAY 23:

There is an old saying, it’s not something that I remember growing up with myself but it is something that came up during the time I’ve spent working on myself. The word ‘boy’ should really be switched out now to ‘the child’ and the full phrase goes: “Show me the boy of 7 and I’ll show you the man” (today’s currency would be; Show me the child of 7 and I’ll show you the adult)

It sounds simple and it is, however it’s one of those sayings that has an ‘old speak’ vibe to it that kind of tricks you into not quite understanding it properly. The more you roll it around on the tongue, the more mysterious it seems. In reality it speaks to the sense we have at the age of 7, when we are still clearly a child but a child with knowledge, awareness, some life experience and an unwavering need to explore and understand the world. Without condition. At 7 we are open, unless something comes into our space to inflict inappropriate or unspeakable wrongs upon us, we are our true selves, the person we were always intended to be. If we stay on this path with our true nature we will investigate, learn, teach, share and make the mistakes we want to…into our adulthood. Unfortunately, at this age we are still at the mercy of our influencers, or if you like, mentors. These could be our parents, siblings, peer groups, teachers, anyone whose will has an impact on our beliefs and way of being. We can be easily derailed or distracted from acting on our intuition.

Those who manage to maintain their path as closely as when they were that 7 year old child will find themselves more connected to who they are today. It’s difficult to say exactly how one implements this, either as the traveller or as the parent of the 7 year old. I suppose a lot of it is trial and error but if we also choose to look at our shit we can do our best to make sure we don’t pass too much of our own trauma onto our kids.

This is why it’s so important to look at ourselves and to share what we find with someone who’s happy to listen.