Rebellious Inner Child Syndrome

Merilee Ford here to tell you that sometimes you’ve just gotta let your rebellious inner child run wild and do some "rebellious" things to de-stress and enjoy life!

We put so much pressure on ourselves to behave well, do the right thing, eat right, look good— all that pressure can make us feel crazy.

Eventually, we’ve got to let off steam….but usually that takes place in the form of self-sabotaging our health, when what we REALLY want to do is be “bad” in some way.

I call this “Rebellious Inner Child Syndrome.”

What’s important about “Rebellious Inner Child Syndrome”?

It’s a way of rebelling against outside authority. Of being bad for the sake of it. Most people don’t like being told what to do so we have our own mechanisms in place to help us rebel.

Some of these mechanisms may be outdated, dysfunctional or self­-destructive so we want to stay away from those.

As health-conscious adults, we can revise our strategy for being “bad” while still getting the pleasure experience of being a little rebellious.

Here are 10 healthy ways to let out that rebellious inner child:

1. Paint a wall in your house a vibrant, bright color.

2. Prank call someone.

3. Doorbell ditch your neighbor, parents, or friend.

4. Rip the DO NOT REMOVE tag off of your mattress.

5. Play a stupid game on your phone.

6. Take silly pictures of yourself.

7. Be intimate with your spouse in a different room of your house.

8. Go to your room and shout curse words into your pillow.

9. Turn the music up and dance like no one is watching!

10. Give your kid a mo­hawk without telling your spouse.

In my health coaching practice, I work with clients to spot how they are engaging in

outdated, self­-destructive behavior in a failed attempt to feel more free and alive. Sometimes we might not even realize why we behave in certain ways, or how supressing our rebellious self is causing us issues. We all need time to just let go and be ourselves!

Together, we'll come up with new ways to feel free, alive and even wild!

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