Do you feel haunted by your past? (Upbringing/trauma/illness/lost friendships/relationships/career failures/etc)?

[000YourMum000]

Do you ever feel like you will never be able to achieve your potential or even just have a nice, contented life because of things in your past that have negatively affected you?

I sometimes feel like I have a weight round my neck that always pulls me back and it’s made up of dysfunctional parents, never being able to keep friends and taking the wrong career path.

Sorry if this is a bit gloomy!

I’m old enough to have realised it’s an unusual adult who isn’t carrying some sort of wound by the time they reach middle age. Even the wealthiest can’t prevent a partner or sibling dying from cancer. Even the most talented will face some crushing career disappointment or envy. You can never look at a street full of people and think “Everyone’s ok, except me.”

So I completely empathise with your question. It’s incredibly hard to say whether it is will or luck that allows some people to climb out from under the weight of memory and the evolving realisations that come crashing into one’s brain as you mature.