Wednesday 30 January 2008

Revisiting Your Childhood

The person that you are today - your fears, attitudes, values, and limitations - has its roots in your childhood.

As children, we collect bits and pieces of information about who we are, how the world works, and how we deal with it. As grown-ups, some of the data we collected in our childhood can prevent us from living a full and fulfilling life.

Maybe some of the people we cared about let us down, so we learnt to be suspicious of others. Perhaps our parents were too controlling, so we grew up to be indecisive and timid. Maybe we were kept in strict routines, so we became afraid of change and uncertainty. Or perhaps we were often indulged and pampered, so we grew up to expect everyone, including our partners, to give in to our demands.

I'm not putting the blame on parents. After all, they were children once too, and there isn't a child in the world that won't get wounded in some way. We may never know exactly what those wounds are, but we can be sure that our parents acted towards us according to the degree those wounds were healed or left to fester. Our parents are human too, and therefore imperfect like everyone else. Once we accept this, we can begin to forgive our parents for not meeting our expectations.

If you want to get to the source of your issues as an adult, you have to go back to the past and examine the kind of childhood you had. The path ahead will always be strewn with shattered glass until you go back and pick up the broken pieces.

Most of us have been taught to ignore the past and look to the future. But it's undeniable that our future will continue to be shaped by our past until we go back, seek out the injuries, and consciously break the stranglehold they have on us.

Only we have the power to do this, but we cannot be intimidated by the darkness that exists in our childhood. Shining a light on the hurts in our past can be painful, but ultimately, this is what frees us. This is what allows us to prevent childhood issues from repeating themselves in our adult life. By seeking out the pain, we can let it go, and move on.


source: Eugene Loh, A Slice of Life, 938LIVE, a station of MediaCorp Radio

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馆主记得有位老师说过,如果要知道某个人为什么这样做事,就好好地了解他是怎么成长的。儿时的我们天真无邪,所以什么样的教育方式将定我们未来的作为。可是,如果我们现在都已经过了儿童期也没关系。重点是,我们能不能从过去的阴影中走出来。

加油罢,将过去放下,就能重新开始。

^_^g

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