The Toxic Parent These are the last words I received from my mother. They were preceded by, “If I had to do it over again, I wouldn’t.” Most people would be devastated to receive these words from a parent. I was relieved. We are born into and grow up with a family. We accept them automatically; that is what we do. As we become teenagers, our own personalities rise, and differences begin way into the world, the differences become stronger. Many of us wake up one day and realize that our relationship with a family member is just awful. However, we feel obligated to continue a relationship. After all, isn’t family supposed to always be there for you? From my own personal experiences, and those of many of my clients, forcing a relationship with a toxic parent is not healthy. Yet, we continue to force ourselves to do so. This causes a lot of ailments, depression, and feelings of guilt. It causes us to hold ourselves back in many areas of life. It wreaks havoc with our body, our mind, our spirit. The relationship between my mother and I became strained when I was a young teenager. It seemed, the day I turned 14, everything changed. Suddenly restrictions were being put on me for no reason; I was not allowed
43
Wheel Of Life Magazine
I could not understand why; I had never
20 minutes to make and eat something and the school lunch bell rang to make sure I