Living fully in the present is not possible until we resolve our past. Only when we face and grieve the harm we experienced during childhood, especially the harm caused by the shortcomings of our parents, can we fulfill life’s promise embedded within us.
Embracing the strengths of mother and father is easy. More difficult is owning and grieving their weaknesses, their failures, even their crimes against us when we were young. But this effort is necessary, if we are to live true. If we refuse to do this work, unnamed forces will haunt our present, poison our future and prevent our deepest fulfillment.