Your Wounded Inner Child

 Your Wounded Inner Child 

How to Start the Healing Journey

I didn’t realize I had a wounded inner child till I was nearing 40 years old. Either I didn’t know how to express them or felt unsafe enough to express them.
I also forgot a whole lot of what occurred in my childhood. Some say this is due to the repression of memories or cutting off from my emotional field.
When I was going through a really rough time in my mid-30s, I took some time to revisit my childhood.
I learned as an adult that I had a wounded child to contend with. My parents were there, but not really emotionally there. They could not love me as healthily as they could because they were dealing with their unresolved childhood issues.
When I began to realize that my current emotional issues were a product of a lifetime of repressed emotions and things that occurred as a small child, I felt a twinge of hope that I could get through the night of the soul. If you don’t think your wounded child is impacting your adult life, think again.
Forgiveness
First, I had to forgive myself for blaming myself for things that happened.
Not everything is my fault. I felt responsible for many people’s happiness as a child.
Throughout life, I had to forgive myself for that. Other people’s happiness is not my responsibility. It’s a trait I picked up along the way because I wanted attention and affection so badly. I was love-starved. That trait trickled over into my adult life.
Many adults don’t think that their childhood has an impact on them later in life.
If this is you, it’s time to do whatever it takes to start digging deep to get to core issues.  Yes, you may need professional help with this.
What is the goal?
Integration, or wholeness, is the goal.
Think of yourself starting as a whole pie when you were born. But over time, as you were wounded and experienced pain or conditional love, pieces of your pie were taken.
You became fragmented.
Take Your Power Back
You don’t have to walk around wounded anymore. Co-dependency will keep you feeling wounded and ashamed, but you can begin taking steps to get your power back.
It is certainly a journey and one you can begin today. I always tell people who are dealing with co-dependency or a wounded child to seek professional help.
Yes, you can read all the great books on the topic, even better.
Once healing occurs, do you ever see your wounded child again?
It pops up now and then. I may become insecure or find myself projecting. I may notice that I’m stuffing feelings out of fear of conflict. Or I may notice that I’m people-pleasing.
Maybe I'm out of balance somewhere and need to spend some time in prayer or meditation.
I may need to speak the truth to a loved one, or I may just need a season to really nurture and love my inner child.
It’s a journey worth taking, but don't take it on alone. Digging up these feelings and memories will be difficult, so make sure you have the support of loved ones, a support group, or ideally, all of the above.