A friend was telling me that he was worried about another friend who appears to be acting out more with respect to his childhood trauma than the duties of the job at hand.
I know the person's story. I know there was childhood truama, and I also have seen signs that the person may be reacting more to his troubling experiences as a child than his current role.
We all have to be wary that we are not acting in ways that relate to troubling experiences we've had in early life. Instead, we all have to undo any childhood trauma we experienced--this includes experiences great and small.
Even slight experiences of trauma in early life have long lasting effects--to reckon with those via reflection, writing, expert consultation, and research is to make yourself stronger and better.
Early life trauma is not always purposeful, often it is the result of ignorance or predominant, bogus cultural patterns. I remember a time in college when young men were holding up numbers to rate each woman as she walked to the cafeteria. I remember the trauma I felt as I was rated. It was disgusting, but not unusual at the time as it was a behavior displayed in popular films and television shows. It was acceptable at that time to demean women in this way. This was a small trauma, but one I have had to reckon with since.
There are other greater traumas that people experience. For example if you lived with a person who had an addiction issue or had experienced great trauma themselves as a child, you may have had to deal with greater struggle. I do believe that part of President Trump's struggle is the fact that he was quickly relegated to a military academy after being asked to leave his grade school due to bullying behavior. It appears that his family cast him off rather than deal with the reasons why he was a bully as a young child. We all know that bullying behavior in young children is a cry for help--is Trump still dealing with that childhood trauma and is that the root of what I believe to be his errant, self-serving leadership?
I hesitate to share this post, but since many are spending lots of time at home this year due to the pandemic, it may be a good time to think more deeply about early life trauma great and small you've experienced, and how to deal with it. This will be a gift to yourself, those you love, and your future. Onward.