What Are You Carrying That Wasn’t Yours?

This week’s Tend to it Tuesday opened up a conversation many people feel in their bones, even if they don’t always have the words for it:
How am I still shaped by the emotional roles I inherited, even decades later?

As a therapist, I often sit with clients in that quiet, painful realization:
“I was the kid who had to stay calm so everyone else could fall apart.”
“I didn’t get to be angry, so now I don’t know how to express it.”
“I still feel like I’m failing if I’m not helping someone else.”

And sometimes:
“I became the parent I swore I wouldn’t be.”