Very insightful post. Especially the segment about childhood and parents.

I had an abusive father and a mother who invalidated everyone's feelings. It was a one two punch that left me growing up feeling insecure and inconsequential. A life full of anxiety and self doubt. I became someone who needed a partners live to validate myself. I can only imagine how tiering thst neediness must have been for them.

However it was also something that on reflection and through the experience of feeling loved for once that created a mirror to understand why i was the way i was. And through that i loved others deeply, cherishing them and giving them all the love i wished i had recieved as a child.

Now things are a little easier. I understand myself more and feel more complete.

Interestingly many of my emotional breakthroughs came from sharing my time helping raise a little boy. One day I'm going to write a book about these reflections about my time with the boy, how a child taught a grown man his most important lesson and helped heal a broken soul.