We take things personally because it feels good. It means we matter and that we’re important. The truth is: people’s behavior has to do with how they were raised, their subconscious beliefs or motivations, and their ability to self regulate.
The “cry it out method” quite literally goes against our human nature. When children are upset they need co-regulation from a parent. That is how we (eventually) learn to self soothe, through the soothing of a parent.
So much of our self destruction is hiding behind the questions “Is my pain real?” and “Do I matter?” The impacts of abuse leave us stranded in a body and mind desperate to work together but often distraught by prior pain. Yes. The answer is yes. Your pain is real and you matter.
We can no longer get mad about anybody else actions. If your mother ain’t mothering, father ain’t fathering, partner ain’t parterning, friends ain’t moving like friends? We gotta let it go. We are only in control of our own life!
Core signs you’re chronically dysregulated:
1. You can’t engage in conflict without lashing out or completely shutting down
2. You’re consistently feeling tired but wired (want to sleep but can’t)
3. You’re impatient and feel agitated at your baseline
Trauma makes you think your self-worth depends on how others treat you. Healing makes you realize you are not how they treat you, they are how they treat you, and you didn't lose them because of your boundaries, they lost you because of their repeated disrespect.
How your partner was loved as a child will show up in: how they react when hurt, how they communicate during conflict, and how they respond when you share your feelings.
A chronic focus on people’s moods, their facial expressions, + a feeling we’re going to be “in trouble” or wondering if we’ve done something wrong is a stress response to a chaotic childhood. The mood change of parent often meant: we were not safe.
Trying to change someone who continues the same pattern of harmful behavior is a trauma response. Many children desperately tried to get a parent to change, and fall into this same role as adults.
AFFIRMATION: I am proud of who I’m becoming. I forgive myself for my past. I am creating a new future. I am attracting healthier relationships and new opportunities. Everything is unfolding exactly as it should.