Wellness Calendar: Saturday 15 March

Messages from our childhood

When we are young, we pick up messages from parents and significant adults in our lives – messages on who and how they want us to be. While our brains are still developing, we are largely at the mercy of these people when it comes to such things as right or wrong, what is expected of us, and what is okay for us to do, say and be.

If these messages go unchallenged, we could spend the rest of our lives playing a character that simply isn’t us, but what we were told to act like.

Now, if you are happy and content with the instructions that were given to you, then fine. However, if the messages have troubled you in any way, it may be useful to work out exactly what they are and then consign them to the bin. You can then undertake a journey to find out what your own approach to your life might look like.

Examples of messages from childhood

Please other people rather than please yourself.
Be perfect, because only perfection will do.
Be strong. Anything else is a sign of weakness.
Showing anger or strong emotions is not a nice thing to do.
Be anything you want to be, but don’t be… [ ].
Try harder. You must always put more effort into things than you are doing.
You will always be loved, just as long as you do what we say.

What might your main message(s) from childhood be?
Do you want to change any of them and take a different direction?

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