Feeling Loved — Part 1

When I do readings and spiritual development, a lot of people ask me, “Why do I love people who don’t love me back?”

The answer is complex and different for everyone, but it usually leads back to our upbringing.

I once told my therapist that I was a disappointment to my mother because she wanted a girly-girl who liked to dress in lacy things, have her hair curled, and sing and dance like Shirley Temple. My therapist replied that it wasn’t my fault my mom wanted a doll and not a baby!

Many people have babies because they believe their babies will love them and make up for the love they never received from their parents. Most children do grow up to love their parents, but it doesn’t happen instantly, and it never really makes up for what the parents missed out on during their own childhoods.

Our children are a gift from the Creator, but raising children is difficult and can hurt your self-esteem as well as improve it. Because babies don’t come with instruction manuals, being a parent can increase our feelings of being inadequate and unloved as much as it can give us warm fuzzies.

No other person in this world can make us feel loved if our parents missed the mark. Only we can do that. But how?

Next step: Feeling Loved in an Unloving World.