Do you remember what it was like to be a child?

When we raise children ourselves, this becomes crucial

When we become a parent, we can become the parent we had. Or, we can become the parent that we needed ourselves as a child. Or some mixture of the two.

Most of us repeat the patterns of our parents. Whether we act in opposition or in accordance with those patterns makes no difference. The bottom line is that the patterns of our parents usually dominate how we raise our own children.

Most of this takes place unconsciously. Old patterns are repeating themselves, without us being aware of it.

But if we find some calm, we can start to observe what’s going on. Perhaps initiated by a crisis.

What am I saying to my children? How am I reacting? And then you realize. I am doing this on auto-pilot!

Shit. I am saying exactly what my mom (or dad) always said.

It’s a shock when we see this. But it’s good news! It can be the start of a very important inward journey. The journey back to your inner child.

To be a good parent, the single most important thing is to remember what it was like to be a child yourself.

And for that, we need to meet our own inner child again. And become best friends.

Unfortunately, for some of us, that child was wounded very badly. We buried him or her somewhere deep down.

The good news is that we can always go back. Because this child lives in us!

It’s a difficult journey to very old wounds. Perhaps you can sense there is much pain in that direction.

But it is an incredibly valuable journey to make. That wounded child in you. It has a very precious gift.

Maybe initially, you will start this journey not for yourself, but out of love for your children. Because you want to be the best parent that you can. This can be a huge motivation.

But really, we make this journey to meet ourselves.